The Journey of Awakening: Through a Dragon's Eyes
by perfect oblivion
Summary: Ever wake up somewhere you're sure you didn't fall asleep at last night? Ever happen to you when you weren't drunk? Well that's happened I woke up in Regna Ferox. Now I've got to deal with wars, cultists, apocalypses, and kids from the future. Oh yeah, and there's also the fact that I'm no longer human to boot. Rated T, but may jump up to M.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Holy shit!" I scream as I bolt awake, having felt the freezing snow surrounding me. As soon as I'm no longer focused on brushing snow off of myself, I realize three things. First and foremost, I'm definitely not in my room back home, I'm now in a pine forest. Secondly, it's snowing, again.

"Oh god damn it, it all just got done melting yesterday." I grumble, wanting winter to be very much over. It was the middle of April and it was _still_ snowing. Finally, the third thing I notice is that something feels different about me. looking at myself, I see that I'm wearing clothing that I was definitely not wearing to bed last night. It looks akin to a japanese kimono, but the material is thicker and coarser, like wool, instead of the usual silk.

Okay, guys, very funny." I call out, all this clearly being the work of my younger siblings, yet the forest around me stays silent. So they were being like that, eh. With a sigh, I look up to the morning sun to get my bearings and the relative time, turn east, and start walking. If they dropped me off in the woods and ditched me here, then the farthest they could have dropped me off would be the forest just west on the property. Quarter sections are nice and all for homesteads, but they really open you up to these kinds of pranks. After about fifteen minutes of walking however, there was still no sign of the house anywhere.

"Okay," I say to myself nervously, "maybe they managed to ditch me farther in than I was expecti-AAAAAAAARGH!" I roar out, having tripped on a buried root, faceplanting on the hard, unforgiving ground. Now very aggravated, I brush the melting snow off my face, when suddenly my hand contacts something very hard and smooth that definitely wasn't there before. Immediately, I go into a flurry of activity, trying to find a reflective surface on or around me. Finally, I come across a small frozen pond. Brushing the snow away from the thin ice, my jaw proceeds to unlatch itself from my head, hit the ground, and run off into the distance.

"What. The. Fuck." No seriously, what the actual fuck. I am now sporting a pair of fucking _horns._ Growing out of my forehead just above the eyes, they curve around my temples and point out behind me. On top of that, my eyes have changed colour. No longer were they brown, but now were a fiery reddish orange, which couldn't be contacts because i would have felt them. Speaking of contacts, my glasses were not on my face, and yet everything around me was in perfect detail and clarity. Oh god, what was happening to me, I had to get home. I had to get somewhere familiar and sort this shit out before I had a fucking panic attack. I was already swearing like a sailor, which I only do when I get really nervous.

"Calm down." I order myself, getting my breathing back under control. "Calm the fuck down. I could be wearing some new kind of contact lens and the kids could have superglued the horns on." The sensible explanation helps, and I feel the nervousness draining out of me. Okay, now that I was calm once more it was time to take stock of what I remembered before this all happened. Let's see, i was packing my bags because I was leaving for the states in a few days. The fanfiction group I belonged to was having a convention, and I was going. I also remember talking about it with a few friends before I want to sleep. Memory wise, I didn't have any info as to what was going on now, so I decided to check my clothes to see if there was anything on me that would tell me what was going on. Upon checking my pockets and pouches, I came across three things. Number one was a pouch full of silver coins that didn't look like any currency I'd ever seen. They were as big as toonies, but had a wolf's head minted on them instead of a polar bear, and where the queen's head was supposed to be was a coat of arms I had only seen in a specific video game, namely fire emblem. The second item were three brown corked glass bottles full of a mysterious liquid, which if the smell was anything to go by, was some type of medicine. The final thing however, was the real sidewinder. A multifaceted crystalline stone that looked and felt like it contained pure fire within. Suddenly, I realized what was going on, and I couldn't help but laugh at my idiocy. I was lucidly dreaming about fire emblem. A sack of coins in Regna Ferox currency, three concoctions, and what could only be a dragonstone; I was a friggin Manakete. Stowing everything back where I found them, I kept going east with a whistle on my lips. I was gonna enjoy the fuck out of this. After a whole bunch of walking, I finally came upon a small village. The villagers looked just like they did in the game, right down to the clothes and pot hats. Spying a pub, and realizing that I do feel quite hungry, I head in. Sitting down at a table, a bar maid comes to take my order. After taking a minute to think, i just settle on the special, along with a mug of hot cider. After a small wait filled with watching the other patrons interact, the barmaid comes back with food and drink in hand. A plate full of mashed potatoes and gravy, thick slices of ham, and a wedge of mild cheese is set before me alongside a steaming mug wafting with the scent of apples. My stomach roars in anticipation just by looking at it all, to which the barmaid giggles, causing me to blush in embarrassment. Taking fork and knife in hand, I begin to dig in, and my god does it taste as good as it looked. After a few minutes of eating, I see the barmaid come back, a look of nervousness upon her face.

"Um, excuse me, sir." she says quietly, getting my attention. "I was just wondering, but, are those horns real?" Oh yeah, I had forgotten about those things.

"Last time I checked." I responded, and her eyes widen.

"Then are you, by chance..." she stops to look around for eavesdroppers, before whispering in my ear, "...a Taguel?" That had thrown me for a loop. I was pretty sure I was a Manakete, but I never truly did check. Then again however, I'm pretty sure I wasn't. From what I remember, Panne and Yarne wore that leather armour designed to accomodate their transformations, while with Nowi, Nah, and Tiki, they wore actual clothing. With a quiet chuckle, I reply.

"No miss, I'm not a Taguel." The news visibly deflates her, "I am in fact, a Manakete." _That_ makes her perk right back up in wonderment. "So what has you so interested in the shape shifters?" At this she blushed, and twiddled her fingers shyly, bringing with her an odd familiarity that I couldn't place.

"Um well, when I was very little, bandits had attacked my family's home. Before Papa was struck by the leader's axe, a giant bear barged into the house and swatted the leader away like it was nothing. It then proceeded to fight and beat down every bandit accosting us. When the fighting was over, the bear transformed into a man, and asked if everyone was all right. When he knew we all were, he made to leave, when I asked him what he was, Papa covered my mouth right after. He simply said, 'a Taguel', and left without another word. Ever since then, I'd always wanted to see him again, or at least meet another Taguel." I had listened to her story whilst eating, and I had to say, that was one cool story. It also gave rise to the thought that maybe there were more Taguel out there than just Panne. Wait a minute, dream, duh, probably just a subconscious headcanon or something. Still, cool story.

"Well, that's something. I haven't met a Taguel in a long time." A baldfaced lie, but this was a dream. Whatever I say goes.

"I know. Ever since the bear, I've made it my dream to meet other Taguel, so I've been saving up to become a traveling songstress." This again brings about another wave of familiarity to her, but before I can inquire, a gruff voice from the kitchen shouts out.

"Sophia, back to work! Stop harryin' the customers." The shout startles her, causing her to jump.

"Sorry, papa, I'll get back to it." She then turned back to me. "Sorry, I've got to get back to work. It was nice meeting you mister Manakete." She then hustled back into the kitchen, leaving me to my meal. after I finish, I'm sipping my drink tentatively, not because it's hot mind you, but because it's hard. Never truly enjoyed the taste of alcohol, being honest. A little bit later, Sophia comes back to take the dishes, and I grab her sleeve to get her attention.

"Do you do requests here?" I ask and her eyes light up.

"Yes I do, what do you want to hear." Thinking it over for a minute, I decide.

"Do you know, Lost in Thoughts, all Alone?" At this her eyes widen considerably.

"Nobody's ever heard it much less asked to hear it. My grandmother was the only one in the whole village who knew how it went. How do you know that song?"

"Oh, I've been around for a long, long time, young lady." Another lie, but it's not like she'd believe the truth.

"Well, I'll do my best then." With that, she takes the dishes back to the kitchen, and a few minutes later she comes back out on the stage, and clears her throat, garnering the patrons' attention. Once the pub falls silent, she starts singing.

"You are the ocean's gray waves. Destined to seek, life beyond the shore just out of reach. Yet the waters ever change. Flowing like time, the path is, yours to-"

 **CRASH!**

"All right everyone, get your arses on the ground now! This is a raid!" The crashing of the door coming off its hinges had startled everyone, myself included, and then the realization that the town was being raided by bandits sent them all into a panic, myself included. Everyone scatters, flipping tables and chairs, but the bandits stride into the chaos and minutes later we're all kneeling on the ground, hands bound with ropes. Soon the bandits hauled us up, and started tying everybody up into a train. Sophia was roughly shoved in front of me before she and I were linked up to the procession. Within a minute, the bandits had us marching out single file into the frigid morning. Soon the town is burning, and we're being led through the smoke to the outskirts of town. Once we reach a certain point, we were roughly shoved down on our knees, a couple of barbarians pacing down the line, axes held menacingly, daring us to try something. Beside me, Sophia was shivering and sobbing, though doing so quietly as to not garner the bandit's attention. Jeez, way to go me, beautiful girl beside me in distress, in need of a big draconic hero, and you're friggin tied up with her. I could transform into a dragon, but I'd probably be needing to hold my dragonstone for that, plus I could hurt someone. I'd have to be smart about this. Pulling everything I've learned from video games about hostage situations, I formulated a plan as the leader approached us, along with another train of captured citizens. Soon the leader, as it was obvious seeing as this guy was a berserker, was bellowing orders as he strutted down the lines. I heard the word slave bouncing around a few times. Finally, the bandit leader stops at Sophia.

"My my, aren't you a pretty, delicate little thing. You'll fetch a handsome sum from the slavers, yet it would be such a waste simply to hand you over. Perhaps a few nights for myself first." With that, he took his axe to the rope tying Sophia to me, and hauled her up. Sophia was shrieking and struggling, but the berserker simply laughed, his minions jeering away. Now I was stuck with a dilemma; wait for an opportune moment to escape and attack, but allow Sophia to be potentially raped. Or act now but have now plan long term. My head said wait, But since when I have I ever listened to my head on these matters in video games. struggling against my bonds, I found the rope to actually be giving way on one side, the side Sophia had been. The bandit leader must have damaged my bonds when he cut Sophia free from the line. Another minute of struggle had me breaking free of my bonds, though I made sure to make it look like I was still tied up. As soon as a barbarian wandered too close to me so as to get a better look of his boss's "prize". I struck. Bringing my arms forward I snatched the man's hand axe off his waist, and just as he turned, smashed the blade into his chest, sending blood everywhere, the barbarian went down with a scream, alerting the rest of the group, the shock of my action giving me enough time to rip the axe out of the writhing barbarian, and hurl it at the Berserker. The instant I did I realized what could happen, but miraculously the axe flew true and struck a gash into the bandit chief right in his left pectoral, Sophia being on his right. With a scream of pain the chief dropped Sophia, who immediately scrambled upright and booked it. Snarling, the berserker pointed his short axe at me and roared two words.

"Kill him!" Oh. Shit. I was surrounded instantly, axes everywhere trying to hack me to pieces. All I could do was dodge, there was no time to pull out my dragonstone, no time to even figure out how to use the thing. In the end though, my luck ran out, and I was struck in the chest, the axe biting into me deep and hard, my world becoming an explosion of agony. I went right down like a puppet with its strings cut, barely able to breathe over the pain. I could hear the berserker laughing, I could see the barbarians around me, but at the same time all I could perceive was one thing. This wasn't a dream. This was honest to god reality. I began to feel numb, and I panicked, thinking I was losing too much blood. And in that instant something happened to me. I could see and hear, but it was like being in a movie theater in my head as I watched my body act of it's own accord. A bandit went to lay down the finisher, only for me to grab the axe by the blade, my hand having transformed into draconic claws, and forcibly ripped the weapon out of the guy's hands. The look of shock persisted as those same claws came back and tore his throat open, and then all I saw was red for a brief moment. When my sight returned to normal, I noticed half the bandits were dead, and I was covered in blood. Thankfully, none of the villagers were harmed, though they were giving me mixed looks of awe and fear, which was usually never a good sign. Still though, by the looks of things, I had a lot more room to work with now.

"W-what are you?" stammered the bandit chief. Hand diving into my pocket, I brought out a concoction. popping the cork with my teeth, I chugged the contents down, and very nearly puked up last night's dinner. The taste was horrendous, like rotting vegetables. Focusing on other things, I managed to keep the medicine, and my breakfast, down. Feeling the wound on my chest healing at a rapid pace, as well as my blood being replenished, made the disgusting taste worth it.

"Your worst nightmare." I belatedly answered the berserker, and soon I had out my dragonstone.

"Get him." Shouted a bandit, and the group charged at me.

"Too late, motherfuckers." And with a roar, I am surrounded by a cyclone of fire. The feeling of transforming was indescribable, due in part by the fact it was such an alien sensation. The process took but a moment, but felt a thousand times longer. With a fiery bang, my draconic form was laid bare for all to see, and by the looks I was getting, what a sight it was. I was huge, four times my original height of six feet. I stood on four legs, and felt a pair of wings upon my back. From what little I could see of myself, was a charcoal black, with highlights of ashen gray and white. A slight iridescence gleamed off of the black of my scales. Focusing once more upon the bandits, I see them trying to run.

" **You can't escape!"** I roar, and with a mighty exhale, I fire a torrent of blazing liquid at the retreating enemy, The liquid splashed all over them with the viscosity of oil, swiftly setting them ablaze, their screams of agony tearing through the air. Noticing the chieftain, I snap my head towards him to see him holding a little girl hostage in front of him as a meat shield.

"Don't you dare! One move, and I kill her." Seeing this makes my blood boil with fury, but then I see something else that makes me smirk, and for an instant, smoke and soot is all I see as I transform back into my humanoid form.

"Who says I need to?" I ask, and the bandit's look of confusion tuns into that of pain as a javelin impales him. The little girl breaks free of the dying mans enfeebled grip and runs back to her parents. The berserker slumps to the ground dead, behind him a Feroxi task force led by none other than Raimi if I was remembering right. The Feroxi soldiers immediately start freeing the prisoners, but as I was moving to assist them, I was surrounded again, this time by armoured lancers.

"Don't move, Manakete." Raimi ordered, and I was in no position to disagree. Soon the last of the villagers were freed, Raimi immediately began getting the story out of them. After thirty tense minutes, the order was given.

"Soldiers, let him go." With that, the lances surrounding me were removed, allowing me to relax. I was then approached by Raimi.

"It appears you fought hard to save Feroxian lives, I can respect that. However, I was also told of your savagery in fighting, and while you took no innocent lives, it may not have gone that way." To that, I winced, knowing she made a damn good point. "Thus, you are to be taken to Khan Flavia, who will be the judge of what is done with you." With that, I was surrounded once more, though weapons were not brandished. Raimi then extended her open hand. "Manakete, your dragonstone." Seeing no other option, I wordlessly gave her my dragonstone.

"I assume your khan won't have me locked up, will she?" I asked, a cold feeling in my gut.

"Only if she sees it as necessary, Manakete. Soldiers, move out!" With that, I am trudging along with the soldiers. Looking behind me, I see the villagers I had saved, but the most prominent one, was Sophia, her face marred with worry. So to ease her worry, I gave her a smile, and some of the worry left her. It would have to do I suppose. Looking forward once more, I keep pace with the soldiers as we march off to wherever Flavia might be.

* * *

It's late evening by the time we reach the east khan's fortress. and my nervousness was getting the better of me. I've had the whole march to think of whatever judgement Flavia would cast upon me, and while most were completely outlandish, it didn't stop me from thinking them. When the great doors opened, I was ushered inside, and Raimi led me towards the Khan's throne room. When we entered the room, Flavia sat upon her throne looking just like she did in the games. Dark skin, though not to the point of Basilio, crimson hero armour, and blonde hair pulled back into a wild mess behind her head, with a stray lock framing the right side of her face.

"My my, Raimi." She says while gazing at me, a smirk upon her lips. "When you set off to deal with bandits, I wasn't expecting you to bring home a friend." Raimi then bowed and began explaining the situation, the khan's face morphing through several expressions throughout the debriefing.

"I see." She said once Raimi had delivered her report. "It appears I owe you thanks, Manakete. Had it not been for you, those bandits would have made off with the entire village. However, your lack of restraint concerns me greatly, as you could have slaughtered the innocents in your bloodlust. However, before I pass judgement I would wish to hear the story from your side." After taking a minute to organize my thoughts, I began my own recollection of the event. I summarized my time traveling to the village as well as my brief stay, but I gave full detail when it came to the fight, of what i could remember anyway. I omitted a couple things, like how I thought it had all been a dream until I had been struck. Once I finished, Flavia held me with a powerful stare.

"I see. In light of this information I shall now pass judgement. What is your name, Manakete?" At first I thought of going with my real name, but my name fit neither a Manakete, nor the world I was in, thus I spoke the first name that came to mind.

"Zant." The name of my book's main character.

"I, khan Flavia, declare the Manakete known as Zant to be kept within the confines of this fortress, till he show that he holds mastery over his instincts and shall pose no threat to my people with them." My brow rose at this; a hybrid between training and imprisonment. Well I would gladly take it, who knows who I could have hurt during that period of red rage.

"Shall I see him to a room then, my Khan?" Raimi inquired.

"By all means, Raimi." with that I was led to a spare bedroom in the barracks, told where the mess hall was and who to report to after breakfast.

"Oh, and here." and I was handed back my dragonstone, and the knight left me to my own devices. Thankfully, a servant came by and dropped off food and a change of clothes, allowing me to change out of my ruined clothing. Soon I as lying on my bed thinking about the biggest topic in my head. I was in fire emblem. I was in a world thought of as the product of a video game. How did I get here? How did I get back? What about my family? My friends? Hell, I wasn't even human anymore, rather this world's equivalent to a dragon. What else has changed for me? All these thoughts and more swarmed in my head, and what sleep I could get was filled with nightmares.

* * *

(One month later)

One month had come and gone. One month to cement the fact that I was in a video game world. While nothing solid had come up, I figured my ticket home was to either beat the game, or through the outrealm gate, though the former was most likely. The other thought that had plagued me throughout the month was which timeline was I in? Thankfully, that had been answered yesterday when portals in the sky opened up and started puking zombies. Throughout the month, I had been put through the proverbial meat grinder. Everyday I was 'trained' to control my draconic instincts, so that even if I went all self preservation mode like I did with those bandits, I would still be completely safe around allies and bystanders. When I say trained, I meant beaten to within an inch of my life until my self preservation mode jumped in, and I had to control it. Throughout this month long beat down, I had learned to be pretty damn good with a sword. When you're fighting the best soldiers East Ferox has to offer, you learned fast. With my sword training also came training in my dragon form. I had noticed it during my episodes, but apparently I could utilize partial transformations of various parts of my body into my dragon form, revealing that I had the skill Dragon Fang. What was odd about that was that skill was in Fates, not Awakening. Finally though, my instincts had been conquered. I could go into a self preservation episode and still be safe to my comrades as well as being able to restrain myself to maim, and not kill. Thus I was brought before the Khan, and was now free to come and go as I pleased. Then Flavia proposed something that threw me for a loop.

"You want me to what?" I asked in surprise.

"I want you to represent me during the Khan tournament." she replied.

"Well, not that I'm not honoured my Khan, but why me? Raimi is much more suited than I."

"As suitable as Raimi is, she is also more known to Basilio and his men, thus she would be easier to counter. You on the other hand are unknown, and I know that big brown oaf has no one prepared to fight a fire breathing dragon." Okay, couldn't exactly argue with that logic, but still, this was seriously messing with the plot. No, you know what, fuck da plot.

"You know what Flavia, you got a deal." Fuck the plot, the whole point of changing things is to change things. Oh sure you put a toe in here and there, causing a few little ripples in key points. Or you can dive in, screaming "Cannonball!" all the way down, and completely change it all up to the point where the future is up for grabs. Hell, with Grima having come back through time, changing everything might be the best way to go. Let's see how much the fell dragon could 'correct' when everything went topsy turvy on him.

"Ha ha ha, I knew I could count on you. Now that that's over with I'll need you to take your training to the longfort, at the Ylissean border crossing. This way you can support Raimi dealing with Plegian bandits trying to slip through, as well as stay hidden from any scouts Basilio has around here who would want to spoil the surprise that I got a Manakete on my side." With that, farewells were said and I was off to the border.

* * *

"Halt, who goes there." Raimi hollered over the walls, and every time she did, I made a dash for the edge and looked to see who it was. Finally, after many impostors, it was legitimately Chrom and the shepherds. Unfortunately, Raimi seemed to have fallen on auto pilot, not believing a word the 'fake' was saying. Javelins were thrown and then, boom, Sumia to the rescue.

"Zant, pursue!" Raimi hollered at me.

"No need Raimi, they're landing." I said, and sure enough, Chrom and Sumia landed, and lines were drawn. To battle it was then. Taking a look at the shepherds, I saw them splitting into two groups, and each going for the sides of the fort gate. Heading over to the one that didn't have Chrom in it, I intercepted them at the door.

"It's Vaike time!" shouted Vaike as he swung for me with the flat of his axe. Backing up just enough to dodge, I then land a stab into his left shoulder, causing Vaike to back off, then I heard something that chilled me to the bone.

"Pick a god and pray." The lance strike sends me sprawling. Had I not morphed my scales over my chest, that would have knocked me clean out. As it was though, I could barely stand. Before any further fighting could occur, Raimi gave the order to cease. After that mix up had been cleared we were heading back to the Khan's fortress. After nearly a week on the long fort, it was nice to be going back. Finally, by nightfall, we reached Flavia's fortress. I immediately broke off from the group to head to my room and change into fresh clothes, as I had been wearing the same ones for five straight days. A proper bath would have to wait, unfortunately, as I would need to report to Flavia that I was back at the fortress. Walking up to the throne room doors, I hear Chrom and Flavia talking about the upcoming tournament, specifically, the champion who would be representing her

"If I may, milady." said a voice that no doubt belonged to Frederick, "just who is your champion that you would turn down milord's help?" Needing no better intro than that, I push the doors open and stride in.

"That would be me." I said, garnering their attention. "My name is Zant, and I am the east Khan's representative for this tournament."

* * *

 **A/N: Well well well, look who's back from the dead with a brand spanking new fix on the roster. So, this fic is actually a collaboration with The Dragon Lover, as well as potentially a couple others. It all started with me reading one of her fire emblem fics regarding her self insert character, and I couldn't help but want to collaborate with that idea. Now don't expect immediate updates with this** **fix as I've got to keep pace with DL and I'm in the middle of moving. So anyway, what did you all think? Like it/Love it?Hate it? R &R please.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Silence pervaded the room as I was sized up by Chrom and his two tag-alongs. However, my gaze was not on Chrom, but the man standing beside him. He was a bit taller than his companion, and held his face in a naturally stern countenance. His swept back hair was bone white, a single thin lock framing one side. The man looked to be in his thirties with how he looked, but I could tell this man was at least a decade younger. Robin (for who else could he be?) must have noticed my staring, and turned to address me.

"Um, hello, have we met before?" he asked, and I decided to have some fun. Letting a few beats of silence cross between us, I answered.

"The heart and soul are weak, but the blood thrums with strength and purpose. What shall be your choices I wonder?" My little ramble had the desired effect. Chrom and Frederick's brows furrowed, trying to decipher my cryptic message, while Robin tilted his head in confusion.

"I'm sorry, what?" He asked, confused.

"I would have thought the mark on your hand would make it rather obvious, Fellblood." Fuck the plot, indeed.

"Fellblood? I'm sorry, but what are you talking about? What about the mark?" I could tell I had him really confused. Good, now if I asked to join the Shepherds, they have to let me in to at the very least get some answers.

"No. Not yet, Fellblood. Your answers will come in due time." Before Robin could inquire further, Flavia spoke up.

"My my, what's gotten into you today, Zant? You've never spoken so cryptically before." she asked, her countenance an interesting hybrid of confusion and amusement. Okay, I just couldn't help myself.

"Nothing important, my Khan. Yet at the same time direly important." Now she just looked unamused

"Speak clearly, Zant." she said, _sternly_.

"All right fine, I doubt I was any good with the whole cryptic stranger persona anyway. I will say no more on the subject, however; to uncover more may lead to dangerous consequences for all of us." I could tell Flavia wanted some questions answered, but she held her tongue, no doubt saving it for later. It was then that Frederick spoke up.

"You were on the Longfort, were you not?" he said, and I knew immediately what was going to be implied next.

"If you are going to say that because you beat me at the fort, Chrom is a far better candidate than I, save it. You didn't beat me, you surprised me. Had I not been dealing with the axe wielding buffoon, you would have never gotten the chance to strike." Frederick however, was not backing down.

"Your excuses speak for themselves." he replied.

"Zant! Not in my throne room." Flavia barked out, and when I found my hand in my pocket, clutching my dragonstone, did I realize why. Letting go of the stone, I removed my hand from my pocket, and Flavia turned her gaze sharply towards Frederick.

"And you. You and your lord come to my kingdom do discuss alliance, and you have the gall to slander one of my strongest warriors. I should have you all thrown out." she snarled at him. Yikes, already shit's changing, and not exactly for the better. Fortunately, Frederick seemed to realize his mistake.

"My deepest apologies, Milady. I spoke rashly and outside my station." said Frederick, bowing deeply.

"Please forgive him Khan Flavia. The events surrounding Ylisse have given him much stress." Chrom spoke up, obviously not wanting the alliance to fall out.

"It isn't I whom you should be apologizing to." replied Flavia, and Chrom turns to me.

"Zant was it? I humbly apologize for my retainer's reckless words. Plegia is casting a dark shadow over the halidom, and the chance of not garnering this alliance is adding weight to his already considerable load." As much as I want to retort, I had to see the bigger picture. Ylisse in the future past got put through the wringer by Plegia due to the lack of military, and the assassination of Emmeryn. Ylisse needed that alliance or it was a sitting duck. However, draconic instinct covers more than just self preservation, and pride is as much an instinct to dragons as breathing. Every fiber of my being was screaming at me to put the prince in his place, but fortunately, my rational mind quelled such thoughts and feelings. I then came upon an idea that would satisfy everyone.

"Very well, I'll accept his apology." To that, relieved smiles appeared on the Ylisseans, and I was going to enjoy wiping them away. "On one condition." Yup, that did it. Now they looked worried. "While I understand that your retainer's words were born of stress, they were still legitimate thoughts. Just because you never meant to say them does not mean you do not think I am capable of winning this tournament. Thus, to put your fears aside, and to make your apology truly valid, you and I will fight, prince. Should you win, you have proven your fears valid, and I will relinquish my position as champion to you. If I win, then your apology will have actual merit. Either way, all parties involved benefit." The response was immediate.

"I accept." said Chrom, the haste of doing so causing Flavia to laugh, and laugh hard.

"Oh, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Prince Chrom. I assume you'll be fighting in the usual place, Zant?" she asked.

"Well it's the only place in this fort that's big enough." I said with a grin. Flavia then went off to round up spectators. As per Feroxi custom, all fights regarding the acquisition of titles must be spectated by the Khan, or if the Khan was unavailable, by no less than fifty warriors currently in service to the Feroxi army. However, Flavia usually rounded up spectators anyway, even if she was overseeing the fight. I had to admit as well, I was feeling pretty eager to see the Shepherds reactions, heck I was even guessing as to how each one would react. All in all though, this was going to be fun.

* * *

The fight was scheduled, and the courtyard was being prepared for the big event. Already I had heard passing soldiers say with confidence that I was going to tear the prince to pieces. There was currently a betting pool going on to see if I would make Chrom soil himself. Currently, I was sitting in my room, reflecting. It had been a month. A month since I had come to this world, a world that was supposed to be a product of imagination. A month since I had lost my humanity. I always thought back to that bandit attack. Back then, in the rush of things, there were more important things to think about than the men I killed, but when everything with the bandits and the khan settled down, I had been expecting night terrors and tormenting memories. Instead I got nothing. There was no change at all. I was never haunted by my kills, not by the man who's chest I laid open, not by the man whose throat I tore out, and not by the seven men I doused napalm all over. In fact I had to force myself to remember, lest I simply cease to spare what little care I had for the situation. Is this how Manaketes thought? That killing for us was just something one did on a regular Tuesday morning?

My thought process was suddenly jarred by a sharp knock on my door. The heavy door then opened to reveal Raimi.

"All right bigshot, time to show his highness what's coming to him." she said with a grin. Forcing a grin myself, I grab my sword, but my reflection in the mirror stops me. Smouldering orange eyes burn into my soul, a pair of horns resting above them. Dark hair a shaggy mane, and my facial features far more defined and angular than they ever were when I was human. lengthly elfin ears escaped the wild confines of my hair, adding to the look of fantasy that was my countenance. Taking a deep breath, I leave my chambers and thoughts, following Raimi to the courtyard. As soon as the doors to the courtyard open, I was blasted by howling wind, but even that was drowned out by the multitudes shouting one name, mine.

" **Zant! Zant! Zant! Zant!** " And for a moment I am stunned beyond words. Never in my life have I been this praised before, and to be honest, I couldn't think of anything I had possibly done to deserve such treatment. I walk out into the courtyard, and to my surprise it was as if the entire eastern army was here to watch this. Chrom and the shepherds were already there, and while Vaike and Sully were hooting for Chrom, the others gave quieter support to their captain. though due to the din, I couldn't hear their conversations with each other. Soon Chrom and I faced off in the central arena, the wind whipping about us carrying the howls of the mountains. Flavia then raised her fist, and the crowds fell silent. I immediately drew my blade, Chrom doing the same when he realized we were about to start. After a second of silence, Flavia brought down her fist.

"Begin!" She hollered, and the fight was on. Chrom wasted no time, and dashed forward with a wide swing. Evading the strike, I immediately got as close as possible. Remembering the cutscenes of the game, and looking at Falchion now, I knew immediately that the sword required broad and weighty swings to make it effective, thus the close quarters combat would greatly inhibit the sword's strength. I was under no such disadvantage, as my sword style was primarily built on thrusting. After a while, it was becoming apparent that I was winning. Chrom's face was set into a determined scowl as he tried to widen his swings, only to have to abort the attack and guard against my own. Finally, it appeared that Chrom finally realized that swinging his sword was doing nothing for him, so went for a thrust of his own. Of course, the flourish he made with the thrust alerted me to his intentions, and I sidestepped the attack with ease. Immediately after the thrust, he leapt into the air, and came down in a roll, his blade spinning. Knowing that to evade the attack would allow Chrom room to swing Falchion with full force, I instead blocked it, the impact driving me down to one knee. The two of us then began to struggle against each other, blades grinding against each other from our attempts to break through our opponent's guard. Finally, in this instance, Chrom's experience won out, and my sword was wrenched out of my hands, the crowds parting as the blade flew through them.

"Yield."Chrom demanded, Falchion pointed to me. That was a mistake, as he hadn't beaten me yet. A shockwave of heat surged from my dragonstone, caressing me with power, and blowing Chrom back.

"What was that?" he asked, stunned.

"That, prince, was the start of the real fight." I replied, grasping my dragonstone, and a pillar of flame erupted around me, thus heralding my transformation. I heard shrieks and gasps, shouts and mutters of surprise, all of which came from the Shepherds. But the loudest sounds amidst my transformation were the cheers of the Feroxi. With one beat of my wings, the fiery tornado was dispelled, and I unleashed a bellowing roar loud enough for all of Regna Ferox to hear. The reactions of the Shepherds were priceless. Sumia had fainted, Frederick had caught her although he himself had gone deathly pale, Vaike screamed like a girl and clutched onto Sully for dear life, who was shouting a vast torrent of expletives both from my reveal and from trying to pry the warrior off. Lissa screamed and hid behind Frederick, Stahl was powering through a drumstick, panic written all over his face, Miriel looked somewhat startled, and had a hand to her heart, and Kellam was doing a very good impression of a turtle if the supposedly empty suit of armour sitting beside Stahl was any indication. Then again, he could have leapt out of it and hid seeing as I could actually notice it. Then there was Robin, gaping like a fish and as white as his hair. Ceasing my ululation, I beheld Chrom's reaction. The man had begun sweating, despite the climate, and Falchion emitted clicks as it was rattled in Chrom's shaking grip. Despite that however, he made no other reaction. Sniffing the air, I smirked.

 **"Sorry folks, his smallclothes are clean."** I said to the mass of Feroxi, which was filled with shouts, groans, and the clinking of coin changing hands. However, I wasn't done just yet. **"Although, the same can't be said for the foreign noble heading for the door."** As one, the entire audience turned to the doors to see Virion running towards them, his pants sporting a rather large wet mark on them. A single moment of silence passed, and the entire Feroxi audience, as well as some of the Shepherds, roared in laughter. Blushing in humiliation, the Duke of Rosanne rushed through the doors for a change of clothes. Another bout of chuckles later, and my countenance was once more the center of attention. I couldn't exactly blame Virion for wetting his pants, as I was pretty damn frightening. The first time I transformed I had assumed I looked like the other Manaketes in the game aside from a colour and stance change. My time in the eastern fortress enlightened me to what I truly looked like. I stood four times my original height on all fours, but on my hind legs I was even taller. Massive carbon black wings spread out across me, their tips nearly touching the crowds to either side of me. My back and torso were also armoured in large, thick plate-like scales on top of my standard ones, giving me an extremely heavy defense. Adorning my back as well were six growths of scale in two rows of three that appeared to be chimneys of some kind. Smoke was constantly emanating from them, the intensity varying on conscious and unconscious will. My limbs were also heavily armoured, and unlike the other Manaketes, extremely well developed and large. My horns thickened and grew in proportion to my draconian body, and my jaws were not as long and slender as the others, lined with two sets of razor sharp teeth, and behind me lashed a long, jagged tail. The moment of humour seemed to have allowed Chrom to recover and adjust to the fact he was fighting a dragon, so I decided to put that fear back into him before he started swinging Falchion around. My scales were tough, but Naga's fang could and would pierce through them like butter. Rearing back, I unleashed a jet of thick flowing napalm upon the ground between us, the deluge of magma-like fire flowing like corn syrup towards the prince. Concentrating on making my napalm even thicker, I painted two broad strokes of roaring flame on either side of him, effectively boxing him in.

 **"Now, do _you_ yield?"** I asked Chrom. I could see him weighing his options, glancing at the flames on either side of him, weighing the risks of doing so. Finally, he stabbed Falchion into the ground.

"I yield." he said, "Now I hope you have a way of putting this out."

 **"It goes out on its own in half an hour, but if you insist."** With that, I returned my draconic essence back into my dragonstone. Though transforming back to my humanoid body didn't feel like much to me, it looked very startling to anyone seeing it for the first time. From what others described to me, my dragon body would literally crumble away into soot and smoke, whole chunks breaking off at times, dissolving instantly as they hit the floor. As I finished, the resulting smoke washed over our little arena, snuffing out all the fire.

"So," I said as I strode over to Chrom, "still think I'm unworthy?" To that, Chrom shook his head.

"Again, please forgive my retainer and I for our words and thoughts. You are more than worthy." he replied, and I grinned.

"Apology accepted, now I don't know about you, but all that excitement has made me hungry." Suddenly, I was bodily lifted into the air by a veritable horde of warriors chanting my name. Despite my protests, I wasn't being let down anytime soon, and it was only due to the fact they were heading for the mess hall that I eventually gave up. After the celebratory dinner, we were packing the convoy to Arena Ferox, and I was approached by Flavia.

"So, care to explain what all that cryptic stuff back in my throne room was?" Great, now I had to explain myself. Okay, bullshit like your life depends on it.

"It was part of a prophecy made well over a millennium ago by the mage tribe after the defeat of Loptyr, saying that one bearing the mark of earth would make the choices to either ruin, or save the world." Bullshit excuse here for five dollars, do I have any takers?

"I see, should he be killed." OH SHIT! Damage control!

"To be honest, it's already too late for that." Thank god, her hand's off the axe.

"How so?"

"You know those reports of walking corpses falling out of the sky? It's one of two spells revered by the Grimleal cult, known as Grima's Army. The tome however, can only be used by either Grima itself, or a chosen hierophant. Either one means one thing; Grima has returned." That throws her for a loop.

"How is that possible? I'm pretty sure I would have noticed a giant doom bringing dragon by now."

"My guess is that he's not at full power or not yet within the world, but most definitely awake. That's where Robin comes in. I think he has to choose either to join Grima, or destroy him. If we kill him, there's a damn good chance the world's gonna end, so at most, after the tournament, I'll join the prince's merry band to keep an eye on things." After thinking it over, Flavia nodded, and left me to finish packing. Once she was gone I gasped in relief. Somebody fetch me a smoke. I just solidified my joining of the Shepherds, all the while fucking the plot's brains out. Damn I felt good.

* * *

The journey to the arena took a day and a half, mostly due to the western half of the country having the lion's share of the mountains. When we reached the building, it was swarmed with people from all over the country, peasant and warrior alike. The whole scene reminded me of the time my dad and I went to see a hockey game when I was younger. After getting the horses, and Sumia's pegasus, in the stables, we entered the building not through the main entrance, but through a side entrance on the eastern side of the building. Once inside, Flavia directed everyone to where they needed to go, save me. Flavia then brought me through the crowds, and I nearly burst out laughing. It _was_ a hockey match. People were being directed to their seats based on if they were west or east, and many people wore cloaks depicting their respective khan's insignia, Basilio's being a bull, and Flavia's being a mountain lion. After wading through the masses, we finally reached our destination, the champion's waiting room.

"All right, Zant, you are to wait here until the champions are called out. The tournament won't begin for a few hours yet, so you may do as you please for the time being, but you cannot leave this room, a rule set down long ago to prevent cheating. I'll have one of the helping staff bring you something to eat in a bit." she said, and I nodded in affirmative. With that, I am soon alone in the waiting room. The room wasn't much to look at, just some tables, a few banners, and practice equipment for a variety of weapon types. Seeing as I had nothing else better to do, I decided to get some training in. Standing in front of a dummy, I got into my stance, and began going through my style. It wasn't anything extraordinary, just a bunch of thrusting techniques with some fancy moves mixed in for a more tricky opponent. Slashes were minimal however, as I only had the strength to debilitate rather than kill with a cutting attack. Most people asked why I didn't use a lance instead, and my response was that a sword was more versatile, easier to wield and travel with, and did far better in close quarters. After a while, I heard the door open, and upon looking at who it was, I was quite surprised.

"Oh, it's you." Standing there with a plate of food was none other than Sophia, who looked pretty shocked to see me herself.

"You're okay." she said gleefully, and after setting my plate down on the table, rushed over to me, and snatched me up in a hug. "I was so worried about you. When the Khan's men took you away, and when you never came back I thought something terrible had happened to you." Thankfully, I was able to console her after a few minutes of explaining, then we got to talking about what had been going on since I left. As I thought, I had scared people into distrust of me, but a good number of the townsfolk respected me. After a while of talking, I remembered something.

"Say, I never did get that song." I told her, and her eyes widened in realization.

"Well, I don't mind singing it for you, the fight won't start for another half hour."

"Well by all means." I replied. Taking a breath, she then began.

 _You are the ocean's gray waves, destined to seek life beyond the shores, just out of reach._

* * *

The cheers of the crowd were deafening, but I heard them not. A frigid wind blew through the arena, but I felt it not. Sight was the only sense operational at the moment, and what I was seeing had completely shocked me. It was not Lucina, or rather Marth, who stood before me, but rather the dispassionate face of Lon'qu. This changed everything. I had been preparing to fight Lucina, and I had never considered the thought that Lon'qu would possibly still be a factor. Why didn't Marth defeat him? I was just glad I was wearing a hood at the moment. Letting the opponent know I was shocked would raise flags.

'Get it together.' I think to myself. 'We can ponder this later. I need to win this tournament.' Easier said than done, at least fairly that is. Going dragon and setting the entire floor on fire was an option, one that I now might just have to consider. My fighting style was nowhere near refined enough to fight a swordsman of Lon'qu's caliber, and the only reason I stood a chance against Chrom and his daughter in drag was because the royal family's style and Falchion were vulnerable to thrust attacks. Lon'qu would have no such weakness. Immediate dragonstone usage it was then, if I wanted any chance of winning. It was then the gong sounded, and the fight was on.

Lon'qu shot forward like a bullet, his killing edge singing out to strike my torso, but my steel blade blocked his. What came next was something I could only describe as only possible in anime. The both of us exchanged attacks at dizzying speed, Lon'qu's being overly faster, but my thrusting style allowing me to fit more attacks in the windows I had. Of course, neither of us could block and evade _all_ the attacks launched at us. I had managed to slip a good few stabs through the man's guard, and while the killing edge was sharp, it couldn't get completely passed my scales. Overall, to the audience, Lon'qu looked like he came out the worse from that exchange, but in truth, had it not been for my scales, I would have been on the ground in a bloody heap. Apparently Lon'qu knew something was wrong, and disengaged to put some distance between us.

"What was that?" he asked. "Every time I strike you there is some kind of resistance that suddenly appears."

"Just so you know, I'm not cheating if that's the accusation. It's just an interesting ability I happen to have." To punctuate the statement, I pull back my left sleeve, and slowly morph it into it's draconic counterpart. Lon'qu's face went from serious to outright shock at that.

"You should also know that giving your opponent time is a very foolish thing." It was a credit to Lon'qu as a swordsman that he managed to close the distance between us and strike out before I could draw upon my dragonstone. Nevertheless, with my draconic appendage I caught his attack, gripping it tight to keep him from retaliating despite the bleeding cut on my palm. The moment before my transformation I released Lon'qu's blade, allowing him to leap back as I was consumed in a whirlwind of fire. Deciding to put on a show to the shocked audience, I extended my two front legs out of the fire for a few seconds, then slammed them to the ground. Next, I slowly unfurled my wings, and when the fire began to die of its own accord, I reared up and unleashed a roar that shook the arena to its foundation, beholding Regna Ferox to the true form of Flavia's champion. Coming back down on all fours with a thud, my wings snapped to full spread, and I fired a torrent of napalm at the myrmidon, who had the good sense to dive to one side well away from the fire. Keeping the jet going, I had it track the swordsman, who had to keep running to avoid the laser of liquid fire. The jetstream died off after a few seconds, myself unable to keep the pressure required to fire it up. Lon'qu however, wasn't backing down, and charged right for me. Dodging another jetstream by rolling underneath, he made it to me and went for a strike to my chest. His sword scraped across my plate scales, leaving nothing but a shallow scratch. I tried to swat him away, but the slippery swordsman dodged my efforts and laid a gash on my more vulnerable underbelly. A snarl of pain escaped me, and I launched myself into the air to prevent more strikes from underneath. As much as I wanted to, I did not set fire to the entire floor, instead firing bursts of napalm at Lon'qu, who managed to keep dodging, despite previous injuries getting to him. After a few minutes of this game of boss fight, I decided to step up my game a bit.

Flying to the center of the arena, I concentrated as hard as I could on making my napalm as thick as I possibly could. With a snarl, I fired it right below me, the liquid akin to molten tar. The pitch began to swell into a bubble where the stream struck the floor, glowing hotter and brighter with every second, until it burst in an explosion that knocked everyone out of their seats, and myself out of the air. I was definitely going to feel that later. Lying on the ground for a few seconds, I heaved myself back up, only for a searing pain to carve its way across the side of my neck, fortunately into nothing vital, though there was quite some blood. A shriek of pain had me back in the air, clutching the wound on my neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Scanning the ground, I saw Lon'qu in pretty bad shape himself. The entirety of his clothes on his upper body were now a burning pile at his feet, and the exposed skin was covered in non serious, but obviously painful burns. He was also drenched in blood, but most of that was probably mine. Speaking of blood loss, my vision was blurring in and out of focus, forcing me to land. I saw Lon'qu charge at me to strike again, but this time I saw the blade coming, and blocked it with an armoured arm, reeled the arm back, and backhanded(clawed?) him away from me. Right after, I returned into my mortal body, which probably looked pretty bad at the moment. Hearing footsteps, I drew my blade once again and put everything I had into blocking Lon'qu's next attack. A harsh clang sounded, immediately being superimposed by the sound of breaking metal, and the snapped blade of Lon'qu's killer edge hit the ground with a shrill ring.

Grinning, I get up, only to see a fist slam into my face, driving me to the ground on my back. Lashing out with a kick, I send the myrmidon staggering back. Focusing through my swimming vision, I get back up and charge at _him_ this time, slugging him right in the face and receiving a right hook into my wounded stomach in return, forcing both of us to our knees. My arms at this point felt like solid lead, and I knew Lon'qu was feeling the same, yet a shaking arm was being raised in preparation for the knockout punch. Mustering everything I had left, I grabbed him by his shoulders, heaved him forwards, and smashed my forehead to his as hard as I could. All was silent for a moment, then Lon'qu flopped backwards, out cold. With shaking hands, I removed my hood, revealing the pair of horns I had just introduced to the myrmidon's face. With that, the crowd roared, and I let myself finally fall into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness.

* * *

 **A/N: So, for all you readers who do not know, this a collaboration project with The Dragon Lover. Go check out her side of the story, titled Journey to Awakening: Magically Delirious. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Warning, the following chapter contains heavy amounts of feels and implied content (e.g. character death). Symptoms may include, but are not limited to; acute heart pain, and heavy crying. Reader discretion is advised to those sensitive of such material.**

Snapping awake with a jolt, I quickly realized I was no longer in the arena. Feeling that I was in an uncomfortable bed, along with a quick glance about the room, told me I was yet again in an infirmary. A quiet groan alerted me to my roommate in this medical dungeon, and unsurprisingly it turned out to be Lon'qu. The poor guy had one hell of a goose egg on his brow, and even asleep the swordsman was pained by it. Getting up, I wrinkled my nose at the bed I'd been on.

 _'Gods, could the healers at least change the sheets between patients?'_ I thought to myself. The bed had blood all over the top half of it, though the pillow was fine. _'Then again, I think all that was mine.'_ A wave of dizziness then hit me, reminding me that I had lost a ton of blood in arena as well. Stumbling to the door, it opened to reveal an older man with a staff, who was definitely not expecting me to be awake.

"Goodness, you're up already? I had heard Manaketes were resilient, but seeing it for myself is amazing." he said.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"Only an hour, which quite frankly is amazing considering the amount of blood you lost." Another pang of dizziness hits me, and though I shook it off quickly, the healer must have noticed. He procured a bottle of pink liquid off a shelf for me, which I recognized as a sweet tincture. Nodding in thanks, I popped the stopper, and drained the contents. Immediately I felt a great deal better, and probably looked better too. "Now, if you would please hold still, I need to see that neck." With that, the man began his examination, and when his fingers had reached my bare shoulder, I belatedly realized I was currently shirtless. Immediately upon this realization, the healer had finished.

"Not even a scar. You dragonkin are nothing short of amazing." He then stepped aside. "I see no reason to keep you here, but I suggest you get more rest."

"No need to tell me twice, just as soon as I find a proper bed." I replied, earning me a chuckle. A thought then came to me. "Where's my dragonstone?"

"Khan Flavia currently possesses it. She said she and her right hand were the only ones you trusted to keep it safe." I let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that.

"Good." And with that I was out the door and headed for the one place Flavia was guaranteed to be; wherever it was loudest. after a few minutes of searching, I found a party, and immediately knew Flavia was in it. Opening the doors, I strode in and got halfway to the food table before I was noticed. Raucous cheers and clanking of tankards belatedly heralded my appearance, and soon I was swept up in a bone-crushing bear hug from behind.

"You sir, are the fiercest, mightiest, most glorious bastard I have ever known. I just want to adopt you and never let go." Okay, here I was, barechested and being crushed by a woman wanting to be my new mother. Can someone just shoot me already, I'm dying of embarrassment here. Finally, Flavia released me, allowing me to breathe again, and I turned to face her. "Now then, now that I am Khan Regnant of Ferox, I agreed to the alliance between our kingdom and Ylisse. As an act of good faith, and to one up the bald oaf, you have been enlisted into Chrom's little mercenary group." I am about to respond, when a mighty blow smote my back and drove the air out of my lungs.

"Bwahaha! So _this_ is your conquering dragon eh, Flavia." Bellowed Basilio, and I turned about to look at the west khan. All I could possibly say in description of the guy was Nick Fury fused with Arnold Shwartzennegar, end of story. This guy was _huge_.

"All the more impressive when he's an _actual_ dragon." remarked Flavia, then she turned to me. "You should have seen the buffoon when you roared. Jumped nearly out of his skin, though he did jump out of his seat."

"Oh yeah, well at least I didn't topple over in my chair when he made that explosion." Seeing where this was going, I managed to get my dragonstone and the location of my quarters before the two khans began an insult war like a couple of bratty children. With a sigh I went and grabbed myself a bunch of tarts, scarfed them down so the sugar would help replenish more lost blood, and headed for my room to lie down for a bit on a proper bed. Reaching my room, I found my things, and put on a new wool tunic. With that done, I examined my surroundings with more detail. Stone walls and floor was a given, but my room had a large window letting the setting sunlight in. Beside the window was a small study desk and chair, and on the southern wall was a double sized bed lined with fur blankets, and had full puffy pillows. I was never more aware of my exhaustion until I heard that bed's beautiful siren song.

Just as I reached it, however, I heard footsteps running for my room, and the door swung open wider to reveal a girl in her twenties with long brown hair, though oddly, white was dispersed throughout it. Chocolate brown eyes gazed out with excitement from behind half rim glasses, and were it not for the distance between us, this girl would have to be looking up to hold gazes with me.

"Hey! So you're a dragon!" Okay, no. If she was going to be this loud, she could leave. "Wait, hold on, let me, uh, try that again. ...So, you're a dragon?" Okay, that was better. Exuberance I could handle as long as she was quiet.

"Yes, a very tired dragon who would appreciate it if you kept it down." I answered a little more gruffly than necessary. Hey, when I'm tired, I'm grouchy.

"Eh, sorry about that." She apologized, and closed the door behind her. "So uh, your name is Zant, right?" At my nod she continued. "Where did you come from? I didn't think Regna Ferox had many dragons running around ...or any at all ...ever." This girl was odd. Which was nice because I had an odd friend back home and this girl was being a wonderful reminder. With a shrug, I answered.

"Hard to say. We don't exactly keep track of each other. As to where I came from, west is the shortest answer. From Valm, through Ferox, to here." I doubted I would need my backstory for this girl, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep everything in line with it. Deciding to get to the heart of the matter, I sat down on the side of the bed, and the rest of my body protested in outrage that my ass was the only part touching this awesome bed. "I'm sorry, did you need me for something?"

"I was just curious about Flavia having a giant dragon on her side. That wasn't what... it wasn't expected." Girl, _no one_ outside Flavia's retinue was expecting a dragon. "I was thinking Lon'qu's opponent would be more... Ylissean human-y, with blue anime hair and a boycott against sleeves that cover his cool tattoo." Pfft, yup, that's Chrom all- DID SHE JUST SAY ANIME?! The girl apparently realized her blunder and awkwardly coughed in her palm. "Uh, wait, don't ask what anime is, not important." I stiffen as the word anime is used again, but I bring a hand to my neck to make the reaction look conceived of pain, not shock. This girl was just like me, and I needed to find out more.

"Sorry, neck still stings. Anyway, I highly doubt anybody outside my tribe would wish to walk through boiling fire resin. I simply boxed the prince in and forced him to yield, and most of that fight was fought with swords."

"I guess it's a credit to the West Champion's skill that you had to use your dragon powers to beat him, then? Maybe that'll give him solace." Pfft, girl, I won because I got lucky, not because of dragon powers. Had the headbutt not worked I would have gone down from blood loss. Noticing the silence becoming awkward, I was about to break it when the girl beat me to it. "Soooo... I noticed you could morph parts of of your body to be dragon-y? Is that... normal for your tribe? I never saw-er, never READ anything about that, other than some Aisian-style-er, CHON'SIN-style stories of dragons." Just as I'm about to call her out on Asia, she started muttering to herself. "Wait, would that be Chon'sin? The trailers didn't specify...hmm..."

"Trailers?" That snapped her back to the conversation, and she tried desperately covering up her mistake. I was having none of it however, and just let the pressure of my stare crack at her, until she finally caved.

"I come from a land very, very, far away, so using words that everyone knows around here is hard. I don't have a convenient little device in my pocket anymore to translate things into Feroxi-nese or whatever." Dear lord, this girl had to be the _worst_ liar I had ever met, period. I didn't even need a Manakete's ability to smell emotion and intent to figure it out. And the fact she was _still_ referencing earth items, namely phones, was hilarious. I couldn't help it, I just started laughing. from snickering straight to belly laughs, I just laughed without pause.

"...uh, not that I don't enjoy being the butt of the joke- that happens a lot- but what's so funny?" she asked, quite confused. Finally managing to calm down, I decide to clear the air, a phrase made quite literal when Manaketes were involved.

"Unless you are an absolute paradigm of the art, you can't lie to a Manakete. Ever since the word anime was backtracked you've reeked of deceit. I didn't smell any malice, however, and you were pretty funny when you backtracked, so I said nothing and let you bumble about. You're a terrible liar, girl." In response, the poor girl made an interesting cross between a wince and a smile.

"Cool? I guess it was kind of dumb to lie. Silly me? And I'm... glad you don't take offense to my lying?" I give her a smile to ease her mind.

"As long as you speak truthfully from now on, I'll continue not to." Okay, hypocritical of me, I know, but the smell was getting to me. Raising an arm, I morphed it into scale and claw. "To answer your question, _this_ is something I was always able to do. I don't know exactly if it is common or not amongst my kin, I'm... not exactly close to my tribe." Turn gaze to bottom right corner of vision, tilt head ever so slightly into forlorn position, and _perfect_. That girl, is how you act.

"Oh, I'm sorry?" she responded, before clearing her throat to derail the awkwardness. "But, yeah! It's really freakin' cool! I've always been a big fan of dragons, and... and I'm talking to one right now. How crazy is that!?" She then emitted a fangirlish squeal, though she made sure to do so quietly. This girl was as bad as Megan when it came to dragons, with the oddball personality to match. Finally, the girl calmed down, a little embarrassed over what she had done. "Sorry, I, ehe, kind of think dragons are really cool. Like, _really_ cool. I called myself "The Dragon Lover"back home, I'm so obsessed with them, ...er, is that too weird?" It took all my willpower not to drop my jaw and keep my look neutral. I could not believe what I was seeing. Megan was here with me, Megan 'the dragon lover' was here in fire emblem with me.

* * *

Let's take a step back for a bit, so I can explain who this girl is, and why I know her. Megan, or "The Dragon Lover" as she is best known online, belonged in the same fanfiction group as I, known as the Legendary muses, or LM for short. It was in this fanfiction forum group that we met, and had most our interactions in. I unfortunately never talked to her much outside the forum, that is, until I discovered that she played Fire Emblem. After seeing she had written a couple fictions of the game, I began to contact her more frequently, and we discussed things like favourite characters, best classes, and of course, shipping. Megan, as her online identity suggested, was an absolute fan girl for dragons of any kind, and loved any sort of game or story heavily involving dragons. The last time I remember talking to Megan was the night before I woke up in Regna Ferox. We were talking about travel arrangements for a fanfiction group meeting our entire forum had been planning for dubbed LMcon. We had just gotten everything finalized with a couple other friends, and the next morning I was saving villages and turning into a dragon. Someone was gonna be _so_ jealous.

* * *

Now, back to the present situation with Megan being in my room and having watched everything in the tournament. Okay, restarting the conversation. Where were we again? Oh right, the dragon lover.

"Not particularly, as long as it's a modest love." Friend or no, if she was going to take her pen name into creepy territory, I was not going to stick around."Now, would it trouble you if I asked you a question? And don't be witty, that gets old." I wanted none of that whole 'you already did' malarcky.

"Uh, no, sure, go ahead. Shoot. Wait... yeah 'shoot' works, bows shoot arrows and stuff."She cleared her throat and quietened down when she realized she was rambling, allowing me to proceed. Okay, time for the big reveal, but let's tease her a bit first. With a grin, I leaned back and asked,

"Would Chrom fit well in Fairy Tail?" Never watched the anime myself, but I always figured Fire emblem characters at least looked correct enough to fit in that world appearance wise. At my question, Megan adopted a look of confusion.

"In A fairy tale, or in Fairy tail? Actually, both I gue-" And then she stopped, realization slamming into her like a ton of bricks. "Wait. Wait, What!? How do... Is anime a thing here? people know about _anime_ here? Was that not covered in the games?" Immediately, she caught her mistake and tried to backtrack, her attempts eliciting a round of chuckles from me.

"You are the worst actor _ever_ , Megan." I managed to get out whilst chuckling, only to laugh harder as I saw her reaction.

"Hey, it's difficult- wait, how do you know my name? I didn't introduce myself, did I? Or am I just Feroxi-famous for my "falling" joke?" I managed to stop chuckling before answering.

"Oh, we've met plenty of times in the past. This is just our first face to face." With that, I sighed. "I just wish it were under better circumstances." At this point, Megan was having no more cryptic answers.

"Okay, let's both speak plainly so we _all_ get the answers we need."She then gave me an intense stare, but with her mousy countenance and height, it just made her look cute.  
...Are you not from this world? Like me?" she asked, to which I responded that I was not. With that, her intense look fades into that of shock and surprise. "Wow. Is... is someone just picking people at random to throw them into Ferox?" She then squints at me, as if trying to place my face from somewhere. "How do you know me? real life? Internet? some other dimension I wasn't aware of?" As much as I wanted to go with option three and mess with her more, I decided that I had my fun, and unleashed the big reveal.

"Does the name Perfect Oblivion ring any bells?" With that, she looked like her mind was completely blown.

"No. Fucking. WAY! You're here too?!" And I yelped as she outright charged into me, patting at my horns to affirm that they were real, which they were. "And as a _dragon_? Dude! Not fair! At all!" Fuck, that was right in my ear.

"Ack, what did I say about being loud?" I barked, causing her to slap her hands over her mouth.

"Sorry, sorry, inside voice activated-" A groan then escapes her. "-but seriously, I get thrown into the snow in Plegian underwear, and _you_ are practically Natsu over here with a fire in your belly. I'm calling total BS." Oh, you'd like to be one, wouldn't you, Megan?

"Being a dragon is not as glamorous as you may think it to be, Megan. _You_ got thrown into the snow, _I_ got my vitals acquainted with an axe, and my new self preservation instincts could have had me killing the entire populace of an innocent village along with the bandits assaulting them and I. What's worse is that my whole mentality has changed. I think different, I feel different, and I sense different. I burned bandits alive and I felt _nothing_." Whoa, dude. Get a grip, no need to bombard Megan just because she didn't know better.

"I... well." Megan began, clearly at a loss for words. Taking a deep breath to regain her thoughts, and properly formulate a response, she continued. "Obviously, I can't say I understand. My transformation was more mortifying than horrifying. But, dragon or not, you're still you. Maybe focusing on your memories from _our_ world will help keep that in check."

"I hope so, Megan, I hope so. I'm just worried my Manakete mind is stronger." Even though I had tamed my instincts as a manakete thanks to Flavia, I was stioll unsure if there things capable of causing that control to fail. Megan simply made a flippant sound and gave me a light punch to my shoulder.

"Stronger? It's basically a hatchling! You've been human far longer than you've been a Manakete!...right? Er, how long _have_ you been here?" I'm about to answer, when a thought struck me.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know why Lucina wasn't the one in the arena today?" At that, Megan grimaced.

"Er. That was... because Lon'qu knew she was female. Because I... kind of... told him. Not the whole truth! Just her female-ness. I... didn't think it was a fair fight otherwise." she answered, her expression a plead for me not to be angry. And truthfully, I wasn't. Sure i got put through the meat grinder, but i couldn't be angry at her for deciding to change something. Not after I had made it my mission to royally screw the plot in it's entirety.

"Well he sure as heck put me through the wringer, even as a dragon. Then again, I _was_ making things fair for him." Could have set fire to the floor and made myself untouchable, after all. Getting up, I found that the sweets had done wonders for me already, as I no longer felt dizzy and weak while standing. I was still tired, but more so hungry, and I probably had the energy for a party yet. "Anyway, I'm feeling a lot better, so I'm going back for more food. Sophia's probably worried sick about me."

"Ah, okay, cool, I'll be around the fortress for tonight at least. You're heading out with Chrom and his Shepherds too, right?"

"Of course, Flavia wouldn't dare let Basilio one up her. Besides, you expect me to spout references and have _no one_ get them? Yeah right, you're not ditching me that easily." Of course, there was also the fact that I was being sent to spy on the Shepherds, or more specifically, Robin, but that was as they say, out of Megan's pay grade. Upon my answer, Megan grinned wide with excitement.

" _Sweet!_ " she exclaimed, then had a look of remembrance on her face. "Well, we aren't the only ones here. Do you remember Blazing Scep-" Megan was interrupted however, when a hesitant knocking came from the door.

"Hold that thought." I tell her while heading for the door, while also trying to wrap my head around the fact that _Theron_ was here as well. All that however, was blown out of my head when upon opening the door, 'Marth' was revealed.

"Um, do I know you?" I asked, playing clueless for the time being.

"We need to talk." was her answer, and I immediately noticed that she was not even trying to mask her voice. She then looked over my shoulder, peering into my room, and no doubt spotting Megan within as well. "May I come in?" she asked, her voice polite, and I stepped aside to allow her entry. Walking in, she turned the study chair around and sat down in it so she was facing Megan, myself returning to sit on the bedside. After a brief silence elapsed between the three of us, Lucina finally spoke.

"Do you two know who I am?" That question gave me pause, as I could smell a myriad of emotions from her when she asked it. desperation, fear, shame, hope, and sorrow to name some of them.

"Yeah, we- uh, we met on the road, remember?" answered Megan. "Your wicked duel with Lon'qu was awesome! Too bad about the... er, tournament thing." As Megan spoke, two new emotions arose from Lucina, happiness and pride, and for the breifest of moments, there had been a smile on her face. Lucina did not answer Megan, rather, she reached up and removed her mask, and freed her hair, revealing her face and true identity to us.

"That's not what I meant." she said, placing her mask down on the study desk, then turned her gaze back to us. "Do you two know _who_ I am?" That was not what I was expecting. Lucina was aware of the both of us knowing about her, and by extension, the future past.

"...If I say 'yes', are you going to say 'now I have to kill you'?" Megan answered tentatively, and the shift in scent to Lucina's mood was all the warning i got before the girl burst out into peals of laughter so hard she was doubling over and clutching her sides. I could smell that this laughter however, was based very little on humour. Megan looked to me in uncertainty, before returning her gaze to the laughing girl in front of us.

"Heh heh, yeah, funny me! I... was kind of serious, because I _do_ know." she replied. I however was not going to dance around the subject like Megan. If Lucina wanted to know, then I would straight up tell her, and fuck the plot if it said otherwise.

"You are Lucina. Daughter of prince Chrom, Exalt of Ylisse, but most importantly, the biggest pain in the ass Grima has ever gotten." I declared, causing Megan to jump in surprise. Lucina's laughter immediately ceased, and her emotional state became such a storm I was unable to decipher it. It also wasn't helping that she was still in her doubled over position. Then she to tremble, and her shoulders began to violently heave. Was she...

"Oh, Uncu-hu-hu-hul" She wailed as she sprung out of her chair and latched onto me, making me flinch in shock, and began crying into my shoulder. Her sudden action also caused Megan to squeak in shock as well.

"Holy- Geez, lay out the entire deck of cards, why don't ya? Never cut to the chase with me!"

 _'That's because you're not in the same state emotionally as Lucina. I can't afford to play around with her.'_ However, we both then realized what Lucina had said when she latched on to me. "...Wait, did she just say, uncle!?"

"Um, does that mean I married Lissa?" I asked, and then I had a thought as to the consequences of such a thing. "Oh gods, Owain as a Manakete, even Naga couldn't handle something like that." That caused Lucina to uncontrollably splutter, as she tried and failed to laugh and cry at the same time. Several muffled snorts also elicited out of Megan, who was doing just as poorly to halt them as Lucina.

"What, can't imagine his 'twitching sword hand' being all scaly and on fire? I think he'd make a _great_ Manakete" replied Megan as she controlled her snickering. All humour drained out of her however, when she realized the implications of Lucina's declaration. "But, if Lucina knows us both, then that means..."

"That we were in the future past as well." I finished, and Lucina finally managed to regain control of herself.

"It is as he says, aunt Megan. You both were in the ruined future with us. When we crossed through time, you two stayed behind to hold back Grima's forces for as long as you could." she said, which caused both mine and Megan's eyes to widen.

"I... holy shit. Sorry, just... _shit._ " replied Megan, brow nestled in her palm as she tried to comprehend the implications of the situation Lucina brought up. "I'm guessing that means we... were there the entire time. And that we..." Megan stopped there, and began to take deep breaths, before finally attaining a semblance of calm, and smiling at Lucina. "So. Aunt Megan, huh? Kinda scary being someones auntie, but I couldn't complain if I was stuck with an awesome kid like you." At this, Lucina's trembles and tears ceased, though she did still sniffle occasionally.

" _Kids_ , auntie Megan. You two were all the shepherds' children had. You trained and taught us, and if it weren't for you... I fear we never would have survived." Okay, that was where the whole uncle thing came from. As fun as Lissa was, the world was no0t ready for Owain to be a fire breathing dragon of pure exuberance. Thankfully I was never planning on marrying, anyway. I _was_ planning on getting back home. Upon Lucina's confession, Megan's smile turned into a severely pained look.

"Oh. Oh, you... you poor kids. I'm... I'm sorry." Megan was on the verge of tears herself from the implications, but managed to reign herself in. Then she opened her arms, awaiting an embrace. "Come here, auntie's feeling left out of the hug-fest." With a final sniffle, Lucina relinquished me from her constricting grip, and brought herself into Megan's arms, wrapping her own around her aunt figure in return.

"I'm so sorry for failing you two." She muttered quietly, more so to Megan than to me

"What? Failing?" Megan asked in return, patting Lucina's hair in a comforting gesture. "You look pretty full of win, if you ask me."

"I, I tried to change this tournament, but I wasn't strong enough. If it hadn't been for uncle Zant, nothing would have changed." Lucina began to clutch Megan tighter, her sobs and shudders beginning to return. "H-how am I supposed t-to save the future i-if I can't change anything?" At that, I began to see what Lucina was mentally going through. Here she was, on a mission to save the world by stopping Armageddon before it began, so went and tackled the first problem; the Khan regnant tournament. however, when she attempted to replace the west Khan's champion with herself, she failed, thus potentially making no difference to the timeline whatsoever. to be saddled with such a mission, and to have failed to complete an important part of it, I could only imagine the soul crushing despair she was feeling right now. No wonder she smelled so negative. Fortunately, Megan was running damage control, and doing a damn fine job of it, too.

"Shh, shh, no, don't cry! It was just one setback, and it turned out all right in the end, right? You have a very hard task to accomplish Lucina, but don't think that you don't have the power to change anything. I mean..." At this, she trailed off, formulating a response, as well as sending me a look that just screamed 'Help me!' "I mean, since Chrom has Feroxi support after all, it means you still have the chance to change things for the better. _R_ _ight_?" And there was my cue to pitch in and offer my own support to the distraught girl. getting up, I strode over to the two of them with purpose, and laid a gentle hand down on Lucina's shoulder.

"And most importantly, you have us, Lucina. We may not be the same aunt and uncle you had in that desolate place, but we know what's at stake, and we are more than happy to help. Know that you can always come to us for anything. Be it planning, advice, or just to be held close as is the case now, we will always be there for you. You are our niece, and no amount of time travel will change that." I barely heard Lucina's sobbing renewed two fold, I barely felt her wrap an arm around me to clutch like a lifeline, I barely acknowledged the teasing remark Megan said to me, and I barely saw the look of genuine gratitude on her face. No, all I could think of was the fact that Lucina was my niece. If ever there was a time for me to realize I wasn't in a game anymore, it was now. I had a family in this world; nieces and nephews that I taught and raised and trained, becoming an uncle to them in everything but blood. Something inside me had given way, and I found myself promising I would do all in my power to help my family stop their future from becoming reality. I was still trying to find a way home, though I suspected such a thing would only be available _after_ Grima's defeat. Though if a way presented itself earlier, I would instruct Lucina in all I knew of the upcoming events in this timeline. Where to find the other children, every plot point and detail of relevance and significance. No matter if my ticket home was a brief window, I would rather be stuck in this world than leave Lucina high and dry. I was snapped out of my thoughts when I felt Lucina's arm around me slacken, before finally releasing me.

"Thank you, both of you. You've no idea how much of a burden has been lifted from my shoulders." Fully releasing us both, Lucina returned to the study desk and retrieved her mask. After fixing her hair to make it resemble a more masculine cut, she slipped her mask back on, and came back to us, giving Megan a quick chaste hug.

"Goodbye, auntie." She murmured, then gave me one as well. "Goodbye, uncle." And with goodbyes said, she headed for the door. "There is still much to do, but I'm glad I have you two to support me." With that, she slipped out of the room, the door softly shutting behind her. Megan and I simply remained as we were, completely silent, as we digested this new information.

"...Wow, I'm an aunt to, like, ten kids or something." Megan finally managed out.

"And possibly a mother." I added, the whole train of thought involving Owain having made me realize we could very well be married with children. And now the song was stuck in my head, great.

"Oh geez, _please_ don't talk about me being a mother. Being an aunt is scary enough." Shuddered Megan.

"What's more disconcerting were the little things in that conversation that had some pretty big meanings. You said Blazing was here right?" I asked, and with a sigh, Megan answered.

"Yeah, he is. Goes by 'Kail', because apparently everyone except me got the memo to give ourselves cool code names." Hey, not all of us have a real name that works great for the world they are in. That however, went unspoken in the face of a key piece of information left out of the conversation.

"Yeah, well, where was he in the future past? According to Lucina, it was just us two." I was hoping that he wasn't mentioned simply because he wasn't in the conversation, but I wasn't going to deny the alternative was the more likely. This dragon mindset, I swear.

"He-" That was as far as Megan got before the implications slammed into her like a freight train. Swallowing dryly, she continued. "He... well it doesn't _matter_ where he was in the future past, because failure is _not_ an option. we're keeping everyone safe and making sure everything doesn't go to shit until we can figure out how to get home." Of course, what remained of my human mind was rooting with Megan's words, my predominately dragon mind had me saying otherwise.

"Everyone, Megan? I appreciate the mindset, but saving everyone is impossible. Oh I'm going to do my damnedest, same as you, but all it takes is one slip." Stupid draconic reduction of emotion, I didn't mean to sound so hard and factual when saying that, but of course I couldn't properly place emotion into my tone like I could when human. Then another fact hit me. "Also, I smelled a roiling mass of negativity all over Lucina, Megan. Self loathing, depression, Low self worth and esteem, disgust, and a couple others I don' want to mention. Now what on earth, besides an apocalypse, could make a girl feel such a negative perfume, hmm?" That came out far more harsh than I wanted it to. I was just trying to let Megan know that Lucina had been under a great emotional burden. I wasn't trying to shine a floodlight on the root cause. Megan answered my query with a scathing look.

"I don't care _what_ sort of future she came from. I'm going big, _and_ I'm going home. I can out pessimist you any day, _trust_ me on that, but I can't look that girl in the face and tell her I don't plan on doing all I can to keep everyone alive. I can't focus on the idea of being _stuck_ here and watching people _die_ all around me-" Megan had to stop due to her voice cracking too badly, and I remained silent, as it was obvious my draconic heart and mind would only have me spouting cold hard logic that would make Vulcans seem warm by comparison. Getting herself together again, Megan continued. "I won't survive whatever hell she's gone through if I focus on the idea of eventually fucking up. On death. I'm going to focus on _preventing_ it. No ifs, ands, or buts." I let out a sigh and answer.

"All right, all right, I'm gonna be doing the exact same thing, just keep what I said in mind. Now, lead the way to Theron, or 'Kail' I suppose. None of us are surviving this without a plan."

 **A/N:**

 **And that's a wrap people. Sorry for the wait, this took a little longer than I expected. Anyways, for those who missed it last chapter, this fic is a collaboration with The Dragon Lover, and runs parallel with her fic Journey to Awakening: Magically Delirious. Whereas I became a Manakete, she became a dark mage. So go give her fic a try if you haven't already. So, like it/love it/hate it? R &R please.**


	4. Chapter 4

It's one thing to read about feasts and parties and such in fantasy books. It's a whole other thing to experience it. As soon as I came back into the feasting hall, I was snatched by the horn by a slightly less inhibited Flavia, and paraded about whilst the east Feroxi people attending cheered for my, and by extension _their_ victory. Still I gotta say, getting one's name chanted out repeatedly had a very satisfying feel to it. After the newly crowned Khan Regnant had her fun, she plunked me down with the shepherds, saying something about building camaraderie and having fun. Instantly I was bombarded with questions ranging from Miriel's questions of Manakete life, to Lissa's excited babbling over my ability to partially transform. After a few minutes of frantic question answering and dodging, I was pulled aside by Vaike and Sully, who demanded a drinking contest with me. I agreed immediately, internally laughing at those two poor idiots. You see, I was a dragon now, and with a dragon body came dragon organs, and alcohol is nothing to a dragon's liver. In short; I couldn't get drunk if I wanted to. After seven tankards, Vaike went down, hard. After five more, Sully went cross eyed and fell backwards off her bench seat, out cold. I however, was still as sober as if I never drank at all, and helped myself to another mug of Feroxi mead, whilst the other shepherds gave me looks of incredulity and slight awe. Finally though, after well past midnight, the party started to wind down, and the crowed began to trickle out of the hall and into bed. I did so as well when I found that Theron, or Kail as I should be calling him, had done so already. Reaching my room once more, I groaned in comfort as my body sunk into the soft bed, and within minutes, I was asleep.

...

 _Pain. It was something I was very familiar with throughout my life. Pain from tripping on the ground, pain from constant exertion._

Whi-CRACK!

 _Pain from the lash. Biting back a scream, as to do so would only bring more lashes, I continued to toil. Thankfully, the lash I had just received would only leave a welt, not a gash. I could hear the taskmaster's whip crack upon someone else's back, this one new, as she screamed, earning her more. The experienced ones, we knew better than to scream. The quarry was as dry and hot as the desert, the wind whipping dust about to further simulate such a place. The taskmaster was not happy today, and why should he be, today somebody was going free. He was a criminal, who finally served enough time in slavery to be set free. lucky him, he was a criminal. I was a Manakete, I would never be set free. There were others like me in the quarry, others who would never be free. Many have been here for so long, their minds broke apart, while others killed themselves as a way to escape, while others, like my little sisters, were simply worked to death._

 _If the taskmaster's anger was making the day bad, then the man who tripped me, causing me to drop and break the block I was carrying, made it even worse. After repeated lashings for my 'incompetence', I was put in the cage, and chained to the wall, my small frame being suspended by manacles spaced for a larger body. For hours I dangled by my wrists and ankles, the harsh sun burning my skin red, and the quarry supervisors administering various abuses to me. It was when the sun began to set, that my life changed forever. I could feel myself beginning to die, starvation, dehydration, and my current position serving to end my life. It was when i heard footsteps, that I heaved my head up to look at who was coming. It was not the taskmaster nor his supervisors, but rather someone dressed in an obscuring hooded purple cloak, along with a brown cape. The two of us stared at each other for a little bit, then the hooded man spoke._

 _"Do you want to be free, child?" he asked. Mustering up what little strength I had left, i managed a weak nod. I wanted freedom. I wanted it so badly. "Do you want revenge on your tormentors? To hurt them as they hurt you?" he continued, and once again I nodded. Yes I wanted revenge. Every day i wanted to hurt the humans back as they hurt me, the fear of death the only thing restraining me from lashing out. The strange man leaned closer to my cage's bars. "I can offer it to you." To that I grew suspicious. Why would a human be offering this to me? As if reading my mind, the man chuckled._

 _"I see you doubt me and my words, little one. Good, that means you are smart. Would it assuage your doubt, if I showed you_ these _?" And what I thought to be a cape draped across his back, unfurled and revealed themselves as a pair of wings, causing my eyes to widen. This man was a Manakete like me. "So i ask again, little one. Do you want to be free?" All I could do was nod in response. The Manakete then grabbed the bars to my cage, and they along with my shackles, corroded into dust. Those same hands immediately caught me before I struck the ground, holding me with a gentleness and care I had never known in my entire life. Cradling me in his arms as if I were a precious treasure, the Manakete spoke once more._

 _"Now then, let's see to freeing the others, and getting you something to drink." The Manakete began to walk towards the quarry shelter, when his gait briefly hitched before continuing as normal. "I almost forgot, little one. my name is Medeus, what's yours?" and with a dry rasp, I answered._

... _._

I snapped awake with a jolt, falling out of the bed with my flailing. Rushing over to the chamber pot, I heaved the contents of my stomach into it, glad that the vomit cast out the phantom taste of urine in my mouth. Once I had finished retching, I fell into a sitting position on the floor, gasping for breath. What had that dream been? it was not normal that was for sure, as I could recall every detail of it, much to my displeasure. Some kind of memory, perhaps? That was impossible though. Glancing at the window, I saw that the sky was beginning to brighten, meaning dawn was approaching. Whatever that dream had been, it could wait. Changing into some fresh clothes, I stumbled out of my room and headed to the mess hall, seeing if anyone was up yet. To my relief, Frederick, Lissa, Miriel, and Kellam were. How did I know Kellam was there? Only one man can smell of both exasperation and satisfaction at the same time. Surprisingly, Lissa had with her a book, which I found odd seeing as she didn't seem to be the reading type. Then I noticed the quill in her hand, as well as the inkwell, and realized she didn't have a regular book, but a sketch book. grabbing some breakfast which consisted of mostly reheated leftovers from last night, I sat down beside the girl, who was too absorbed in her work to notice me peering at what she was doing. Then when I saw what she was up to, I was not pleased.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" I said to her, startling her and causing her inkwell to tip all over the pages of the book, destroying it.

"Zant! look what you made me do." she responded, gesturing to the now ruined book.

"You were doing a fine job of that before I spoke up. What makes you think you can go defacing someone else's property for your own amusement?" That was when Frederick took notice.

"Zant, Lissa, What's going on?" he asked, his eyes on me akin to a hawk's on its prey. Before Lissa could rattle an excuse, I got my version out immediately.

"Lissa here thought it would be funny to draw in a textbook that wasn't hers, then she spilt ink all over it when I startled her." Frederick's eyes then switched targets to Lissa, making the girl feel very uncomfortable.

"Is this true, Lissa?" he asked in a tone that would brook no lie.

"But it was so booooring. I was just trying to make it funnier."

"Apologize, now." Frederick and I said at the exact same time, though only Frederick was pointing at the door. Lissa then left to do so, pouting the whole way. Well, that answered how Lissa's and Robin's C rank support kicked off. A few minutes of silence passed which I spent eating, when I was approached by Miriel.

"Pardon me, Zant, we were acquainted during the raucous merrymaking the previous eve. I believe our introduction was rather hurried due to the ongoing festivities so my name might have not registered with you, I am Miriel. Would you be at all willing to divulge information pertaining to yourself and the Manakete race as a whole? I had tried asking before but we were constantly interrupted." Oh boy, I was afraid of this, both for the subject matter and Miriel herself. Thank god I spoke university.

"That depends. I will do so on the condition that I may refrain from answering any question I deem too personal." Nodding, Miriel opened her book.

"Fair enough. How will such a question be identified? Silence?"

"I will answer the question with the sentence, no comment." Miriel nodded once more, and had a primed quill at the ready.

"Very well. We shall begin this with you. How old are you exactly, and how does that range within the average Manakete's lifespan."And thus did the interrogation begin. I could see why she was difficult for the rest of the world to understand, as she used complex wording as commonly as the street life used slang. Seeing as I went to university however before coming to this world, I could keep up with her relatively easy enough. I answered her questions as best I could, and when she got to things I wasn't willing nor ready to divulge, I simply said no comment, and she went right to the next question. By the time we finished, most of the Shepherds were up and about. the only ones left were Megan, Vaike, and Sully. Soon enough, Megan staggered in, looking like she could really use some caffeine, and a couple minutes later, Vaike and Sully shambled in, looking so bad Sumia screamed, thinking they were risen. Fortunately, Regna Ferox didn't just have alcohol, it also had tried and true hangover cures. A few minutes later we were on the road. It was going to take us a day and a half to reach the long fort, then another two to reach Ylisstol. When the afternoon came by, I got company in the form of Robin.

"So," he began, his expression practically screaming 'you and I are gonna socialize, and that's final', "tell me more about yourself?"

"And just how well did that work for Lon'qu I wonder?" I responded in kind, and a brief scowl flitted across the man's face.

"This isn't about him. Okay, let's start with something basic. Where you from?" This was gonna be good.

"Plegia." I said as simply as one converses about the weather.

"You're kidding." he responded, his expression priceless.

"Nope."

"Does Chrom know?"

"Nope."

"Does Flavia know?"

"Nope."

"Does _anyone_ in the Shepherds know?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Miriel."

"How does Miriel know?"

"Because like you, she asked." Robin palmed his face in response.

"I'm telling Chrom, he's got to be made aware of this." he said, heading for the prince's location, the tattletale.

"Be sure to bring Miriel with you." I called after him, though I doubted he would. Sure enough, not five minutes later, Frederick comes barreling at me, lance bared, timing his halt perfectly so the lance tip is pressing against my throat.

"You have five seconds to explain, Now!" he roared at me.

"I lived in Plegia nearly three millennia ago, before it was even called Plegia." I responded with a completely relaxed tone, despite there being a lance at my throat. Said lance was soon pulled away.

"Well, Robin failed to mention that particular detail."

"That's why I told him to bring Miriel. Speaking of which, weren't you in the room when she was asking me those questions?" At this, Frederick was enveloped in the smell of embarrassment.

"You'll have to forgive me. I have a habit of tuning out Miriel when she becomes very talkative." he answered, heading back to Chrom. I didn't see Robin for the rest of the day. no doubt in an absolute heap of trouble. All in all a completely satisfying way of getting rid of a social butterfly that I was _not_ friends with. Megan would most definitely not get such treatment from me.

...

"I, hate you." growled Robin as he handed me a bowl of stew.

"And what did I do to deserve such a thing?" I asked innocently, infuriating the tactician even more.

"You know full well what you did."

"Answered your question?"

"You gave me an incorrect answer!"

"And whose fault is it for bandying it about? Even Frederick for all his protectiveness, had the decency to ask me to clarify."

"Frederick _just_ asked you to clarify?" asked Chrom, to which I shrugged.

"Actually he demanded me at lancepoint, but no need to tell Robin that." I whispered back, causing Chrom to chuckle. Then I spoke up for Robin. "However, I do understand that I could have clarified myself earlier, so let me make it up to you. After you finish up here, swing by my tent. I'll have something for you that will help with your memories." Robin instantly perked up at this.

"Really?" he asked. Of course not, idiot.

"Really." I confirmed, you know, like a liar. Actually, that would be a bit unfair. What would be revealed to him was legitimate truth, but the method of reaching that information would be false. Robin stopped giving me the stink eye after that, and I retreated to my tent to eat, chuckling along the way when I heard Megan's startled scream when the person she was shouting for suddenly appeared before her. When I was done I set up my tea set and got to work boiling some water in the kettle. Being a fire Manakete expedited the process greatly, seeing as with my dragonstone I could simply heat up the water myself, without transforming. Soon the water was bubbling, and I poured it into the pot, making sure to really oversrteep the tea to make it taste awful. Hey, it's supposed to be medicine, right? And Buckley's always taught me that if it tasted awful, it worked. Soon enough, Robin entered the tent, only to deflate when he saw the teapot.

"Tea? Your miracle amnesia cure is tea?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course not, moron, it's an infusion, which is like tea but medicinal in nature. Now sit down and drink." Flinching at my sudden tone, Robin scrambled to do as bid, and nearly retched at the taste.

"Oh gods, the bitterness."he rasped out.

"Yes, and you need to drink all of it. Otherwise all it does is taste bad." It took a bit, but Robin finally drank the mug's worth I had given him.

"Okay, now what?" he coughed out.

"Now comes the fun part." I answered, causing the tactician to quirk an eyebrow. "Any second now, you're gonna feel like you took a war hammer to the forehead, and everything will come rushing back in an agonizing wave." Robin adopted a look of horror on his face, then gritted his teeth and braced for the incoming pain, which never did. Blinking in confusion, he then must have realized I had been lying to some degree and his stink eye returned full force. Oh I was going to enjoy messing with this guy.

"Okay, okay, I was joking a bit." I told him. "You're gonna get a headache, but it's nothing like what I described, so what do you remember?" Robin concentrated, and a look of confusion adorned his face.

"Still nothing." he answered, which was completely normal, but he didn't have to know that.

"That's odd, it should have worked by now." I answered, adopting a look of confusion on my face. It must have looked convincing because Robin became more confused. "Do you remember anything at all, even fragments, like the tones of voices, sensations, anything?" Robin concentrated, then shook his head in the negative. Time to drop the bomb.

"Then I've got some bad news for you Robin." I said solemnly, and Robin was looking like he didn't like where this was going. "You didn't lose your memory."

"I assure you Zant, that I am not faking my amnesia." protested Robin, but I held up a hand to silence him.

"Let me finish." I said, and he calmed down. "As I was saying, you didn't lose your memory. Your memory was destroyed." That threw him for a loop.

"What do you mean, destroyed?" he asked.

"I mean that something happened to you that completely erased your memory. Thing is, very few things in this world can do such a thing, the majority being some kind of attack on the soul."

"So, what does it all mean?" Robin was getting really nervous now, not that I could blame the guy.

"It could mean anything really. Maybe you were some big time Grimleal hierophant, but betrayed the cult. Or you had key information that somebody wanted you dead for. At this point, it's impossible to know." Robin became downcast at the news.

"So, there's no way to return my memories?" he asked, and I shook my head.

"None. Destroyed memories are well and truly gone. I'm sorry, Robin."

"No, don't be. In fact, thank you for telling me this." he said, placing his mug down and standing up. I did so as well, and picked up the teapot.

"Well, looks like the rest of this is useless." I stated, gesturing with the pot. "Nothing else I can do but get rid of it." With that, I left through the back of my tent to pour out what was left of my fake remedy. As I poured out the brew, Robin decided to have some fun.

"You know," he called out from inside the tent, "if you needed to use the chamber pot, I would've stepped out for you."

"Har dee har har." I drolled back, " You're a riot, you know tha-"

 _CRASH_

One second I'm responding to a dull joke whilst emptying my teapot, the next, the teapot shatters in my hand, and I'm sent to the ground with an arrow in my chest. As soon as I'm sent down from the force of the shot, for the briefest instant strange feelings of triumph flit through my being. As soon as they're there however, they pass, and my fall continues through the tent flap, sending me to the ground at Robin's feet.

"Oh gods, Zant!" he swore loudly and leaped back from the surprise, and immediately rushed to my side. Gripping the arrow, he yanked it out, only to find that despite the arrowhead being barbed, it came free rather easily.

"I'm fine, just stunned." I said. To my amazing fortune, the arrow had gotten bound up in my cloak and underlying wool shirt, stopping the blow near entirely. That was when it caught up to me. I just got shot. Leaping back to my feet, I rushed back out, and immediately noticed the hostile that had fired at me. A second arrow slammed into my shoulder, doing nothing to the scales that were now beneath the clothes. With a yell, I lunged out and drove my sword through the Risen's gut, then yanked sideways, the zombie groaning and dissolving into purple smoke.

"Alarm! Risen in the camp!" I hollered out, and the camp surged into activity. The amount of Risen was surprising to say the least, and were it not for the haphazard formations they were in, I nearly thought this to be a coordinated sneak attack.

"Where did they all come from?" Robin asked, blasting a fighter into dust with a thunder tome.

"I think the better question is, how can we get rid of them as quickly as possible." I answered back, lopping off a myrmidon's head. Then I noticed another archer lining up a shot on Robin, whom had his back turned. Summoning my wings, I launched forward and intercepted the shot, knocking Robin out of the way.

"Thank me later." I said, and leaped out of the way, allowing Robin to retaliate. The thunder spell blasted off the Risen's arm, but didn't kill it, so I went in to finish the job. "Incoming!" I shouted, diverting the Risen's attention, and drove my blade right between the undead soldier's eyes.

"Now that's strategy." Robin said with a grin as the Risen dissolved.

"If you have time for quips, it can be better spent abolishing these monsters." I replied. Just then, a roar of feminine fury reached our ears, identifying the creator to be Sully. Robin made to assist the cavalier, but I held out an arm to stop him. Upon looking at me for an answer, I said to him, "Let me help Sully. You need to find Chrom and start organizing this mess of a skirmish." Nodding, Robin headed deeper into our encampment while I headed towards Sully's location. Upon reaching her, I found her to be surrounded by a group of seven Risen of various classes. Normally, such a group would be but a trifle to the woman, but Sully was currently without a horse and a lance, and that made things much more difficult for her. While her swordsmanship was good, it was sloppy when not performed on horseback. Furthermore, the sword she was working with was mere bronze, and although the quality was good, it was having trouble with the Risen's ragged but surprisingly sturdy armour. Soon enough, Sully was beginning to get overwhelmed, so I stepped in immediately.

"Die in flames!" I roared, thrusting my sword up to the guard though the closest Risen's chest. With a groan, it dissolved into smoke, and I immediately noticed it's weapon had remained. Retrieving the iron sword, I called out to the cavalier for her attention. "Sully, catch." I shouted, and tossed the sword her way, the cavalier snatching it out of the air. With an ally at her side and a better sword in her hand, Sully and I made short work of the group.

"Thanks for the backup." she said once the last Risen was gone.

"Anytime, but now we have to get to Robin for a battleplan." I answered.

"You sure there'll still be an enemy by the time we do?"

"If we're lucky, then no." With that, the two of us made our way to the middle of the camp. Luck seemed to be on our side, as we only dealt with two more Risen on the way. All that changed however, when I heard a howling groan, and out came a Risen different from the rest. A wiry frame supported with lithe musculature, wielding a quality war axe, no armour or helmet, and long wild hair. Yep this was the big boss of the group, and it did not look easy.

"Must... kill." It moaned out, shocking the cavalier.

"These things can talk?" She asked. I was about to respond, when the Risen groaned louder and hunched forward. A black smoke-like miasma roiled from it, it's eyes slowly shifted from red to purple, and I could practically hear the phrase 'assuming direct control'.

 _"Must... kill... dragon!"_ It roared out in a warped voice, and shot forward with axe brandished. Sully intercepted the Risen, and with a yell, blocked the blade with her own. The familiar sound of breaking metal rang in my ears as Sully's weapon broke clean in half, and with speed and force even I was shocked at, the Risen landed a punch into Sully's gut that was so hard, I could feel the metal of her armour crunch inward from the impact. Said cavalier was sent to the ground with a gasp of pain, what once was protecting her now inhibiting her ability to breathe. Just as the Risen made to strike her with it's axe, I intercepted the blade.

"Sully, get out of here, I'll handle this." I said to her.

"Hell no." she grunted out. "If you think I'm going to leave you with this thing, you've got another thing coming."

"Sully, your armour is compromised, and you have no weapon. You won't be of any use in this fight."

"Like hell I'll be..." Whatever she was about to say next died on her lips when I glared at her.

"Sully." I said, my voice completely calm despite the Risen pushing me back. "You can either remove yourself with your own power, or so help me, I'll transform here and now and throw you across the camp myself." Soon enough, Sully was retreating from the fight.

"You bastard, don't you dare die on me." she said, before fleeing into the camp. Now it was just me and a Risen Grima seemed to be puppeting directly. The fight was not like any I had with any other Risen, each attack I made was blocked and parried, while the Risen's own frenzied strikes were nearly impossible to deal with. Finally, my sword couldn't take anymore abuse, and shattered like Sully's. The next swing of the axe met dragon scale with a crunch, and I was shocked to see the blade had been able to damage them. I was forcibly knocked back into gear when the Risen's fist collided with my jaw, nearly cracking it, and sending me sprawling. I blocked the Risen's next swing of the axe with a scaled arm, wincing at the crunching noise my scales made, and kicked the zombie's feet out from underneath it, sending it to the floor as well. Scrambling back to my feet, I searched for a weapon I could use, only to find none. By then the Risen was back on it's feet as well, and I only just morphed my scales across my back, before the axe blade slammed into it. More scales were destroyed, and I was sent back down to the ground, the Risen on top of me this time. After a brief struggle, the risen had me pinned on my back, and was strangling me with the handle of it's axe. I did everything to get it off, but nothing worked no matter how hard I struggled. Soon, my vision began to flicker and dim at the edges, and my thrashes were starting to slow down.

 _"Dragon... will... die."_ the Risen moaned out, sounding almost pleased, but just as it did the last time mortal danger had approached me, instinct kicked into overdrive. My left hand morphed into claws, clenched into a fist, and morphed again into a literal mouth, which spewed napalm into the possessed Risen's face. Normally this wouldn't do much to slow a Risen down, but with a living mind in the corpse's driver's seat, reflex took over, and the Risen's hands went to it's face, relinquishing the axe. Gasping for air, I snatched the axe off the ground, and cleaved it straight into the Risen's head, wedging it into the bisected brain cavity. With a howling scream, the Risen began dissolving, the black miasma emanating from it shooting away. Once I regained my breath, I looked at my now normal hand with a picture perfect What The Fuck face. I mean seriously, what the fuck just happened. Remembering where I was, I pushed that out of my mind for the time being and searched for a weapon, finding none. My searching brought me deeper into camp, and I could hear more and more shouts of victory throughout the camp, meaning the risen horde was nearly dealt with.

It was then that I came across something that frightened and enraged me to my very core. Frederick had Megan at lancepoint, looking like he would strike at any moment. The fighting made hearing the conversation difficult, but from what I was able to gather, Megan could use dark magic and Frederick was accusing her of being a Grimleal spy. I had no idea if Frederick could be reasoned out of his current line of thought, nor did I care. Megan was a friend, first and foremost, but she was also my anchor to sanity; living, breathing proof that the life I had lived before this whole fire emblem fiasco was not some conjured product of a Manakete power nap. I could not, _would_ not, let harm come to her on my watch. I rushed forward, my dragonstone responding to my feelings and wreathing me in fire, changing me into my draconic body. With a powerful inhale, I unleashed a roar so loud and powerful, the shockwave blew Frederick right off his horse, as well as knocking Megan and a couple others to the ground as well, and making the rest of the assembled crowd stumble back.

Eat your heart out, Brute Tigrex.

Frederick's horse fled with a shriek, and I pinned the great knight against the ground with a claw before he could get up. I heard the sounds of weapons being drawn, but all my focus was on the overly paranoid knight, though I did spare a quick glance at Megan to make sure she was alright.

What is the meaning of this!" shouted Frederick as he desperately tried extricating himself from underneath my claws, only for me to press down harder, a glimmer of satisfaction running through me when I heard his armour groan in protest.

 **"I could ask you the same thing, retainer, because you are getting awfully suspicious."** That got everyone to pause. Now to go in for the kill. **"First you insult me, and by proxy the khan herself, and now you're blatantly attacking a sanctioned ward of Ferox in Feroxi territory. It's like you're deliberately trying to start a two front war."** The implications sunk in if Frederick's face was anything to go by.

"You are accusing _me_ of going against my lord and lady?" he blustered in shock.

 **"I am, and I have far more concrete evidence for such an accusation than what you are drawing out to paint this woman as a grimleal spy."**

"Zant, release him." barked Chrom, causing my gaze to snap to the blue haired prince. "Frederick acted rashly, I know, but still, he was acting in my and my sister's defense." Then his attention turned to the knight I had pinned to the ground. "And you. Twice now you've nearly jeopardized this alliance with Ferox. Never have I been so ashamed and embarrassed of your actions until now Frederick."

"B-but milor-"

"No buts! When we reach Ylisstol, Emmeryn _will_ be made aware of this. She will deliver your punishment." Immediately, all fight left the knight.

"Yes milord. Apologies milord." he said, and I lifted my claw off of him, and my draconic body broke apart to reveal my humanoid form again.

"Make no mistake prince, if this happens again, there _will_ be consequences." I growled out, and headed back for my tent, everyone in the way parting for me, not wanting to test the ire of an already riled dragon. When I reached my tent, The first thing I did was sit down on my bedroll and reflect on some things during the fight. When I had been struck by that arrow, if I hadn't gotten lucky, that would have killed me. The biggest thing about that moment however, was the foreign feeling of elation when I had been struck. Then there was Grima, or a high ranking Grimleal heirophant, controlling the Risen leader, and nearly killing me again. The biggest thing was that in both instances, the main target had been me. I hoped it wasn't the case, but the evidence was damning; Grima was singling me out. Remembering what Lucina told Megan and I in Ferox, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that future past me must have really pissed the fell dragon off. The second thing was my hand turning into a functioning mouth. Okay, I do remember Corrin's dragon fang animation having something similar, but still that was still weird as all hell. I had to practice that however, as the combat advantages would be quite worth it. Finally, that Risen had really messed up my scales, which meant I'd be shedding again, and with all the cracks and crevasses on my exterior, shedding was always an absolute pain. Finally, everything was mentally sorted, and I had cooled off enough that I no longer entertained thoughts of burning down the encampment, so I decided to get some rest, I would need all I could get to survive the madness iin the coming days.

...

 **A/N: Sorry to everyone for getting this uploaded so late, but issues IRL kept popping up for me, and I had to leave for nearly the whole month of September, so once again, apologies to all my readers, and especially to you Megan, seeing as my tardiness forcibly held your fic back. Anyway, I'm back and hopefully things will settle down soon enough that I can start uploading quicker if not regularly.**


	5. Chapter 5

You know, there's a lot to be said about a beautiful morning. Singing birds, fresh air, blue skies, there was much to enjoy. So was I enjoying this beautiful morning?

 **Crash**

No, no I was most definitely not. Let's rewind a bit to the day after our camp got ambushed by Risen. Earlier that morning I went ahead of the Shepherds with Chrom's permission to the longfort so as to let the garrison know of our departure. By late afternoon did the rest of the Shepherds make it to the fort, and by then I was feeling the sensation of seriously needing to shed. It was like I was being constricted in my own skin, and I had to tear free. Fast forward to now in the early dawn the next day, and I'm in my dragon form, currently in the process of shedding.

 **Crash**

As well as causing a bit of deforestation, stupid tail. First to be shed were the limbs, which were the easiest to deal with. Claws raked against scale, going against the layering pattern, tearing off all the ruined scales in minutes. Next was my torso, much harder but still manageable. Unlike the regular scales going along my limbs, my chest had thicker, sturdier plate scales that had to be ripped off. It took a bit of doing, but I managed. Now came the hard part, my back. Not only was it awkward for my limbs to reach back there, but those stupid vents complicated matters immensely. Usually I could find a nice jagged boulder in Ferox's mountainous terrain, but here in Ylisse my options were far more limited. After an hour of futile effort trying to reach the scales between my vents, I spied a large fir tree, and immediately thought it would make for a decent backscratcher. Bracing my back against the trunk, I got to rubbing. Branches cracked and snapped as I rubbed up and down, but those damned scales wouldn't come off. I rubbed harder, stripping the tree of bark and limbs, but still the scales refused to yield. Thus I rubbed harder still, putting all my weight into it this time.

 **Crack**

Which turned out to be a very poor idea indeed as I was sent toppling back due to the tree suddenly breaking from behind me. When I got up however, I was suddenly presented with a new dilemma; the damned tree was wedged between my vents. Another hour of frustrating work, as well as more toppled timber, finally had me removing the tree from my back, yet the thrice damned scales were still present. Heaving the tree to one side, my frustration could be contained no longer, and I roared out so loudly, entire flocks of birds scattered from miles away. I probably woke the Shepherds, heck, I probably woke up the entire halidom, but I didn't give one single fuck. I'll bet someone was marching here right this minute to tell me to shut up, and the moment they did, I'd napalm them so bad they'd feel it for the rest of their life. And Naga have mercy if it was Frederick. I wonder, would it still be considered cannibalism if I ate him? Then again, I have no idea how the result of that would look in my humanoid body, and everyone would probably try to kill me, so yeah, maybe not. Ok Zant, calm breaths. You passed Flavia's anger management course, so put it to use. Deep breaths, in through the mouth, out through the nostrils. In, out, in, out. Okay, now that I felt better and no longer had the urge to burn and/or eat someone, I could start thinking rationally. It was obvious that any natural implement made of wood wasn't going to work, my scales were just too hard. What I really needed was something that could wiggle underneath them, and prise them off that way. Now where could I find something like that?

"Zant, I heard your roar, what happened?" called out none other than Sully, armed with her lance and mounted on her horse this time. As soon as I saw that lance, one word resounded through my mind.

Perfect.

"Whoa, what the hell happened here?" she asked, noticing the destruction around us. Broken trees and limbs, and shattered scales littered the clearing. "Damn, did I miss the action?"

 **"Uh, no. Sorry Sully, but that roar wasn't from me fighting anything."** I answered.

"Seriously? Then what the hell caused you to roar so loud you freaked nearly every mount in the camp? Last I saw Frederick, he was getting dragged through the camp by his horse, his foot snagged in the stirrup." Upon hearing that, I winced. Back home, my actual home, my two sisters were avid horseback riders. I knew just how dangerous getting dragged by one's mount was. Contrary to what most of the Shepherds were probably thinking, I did not hate Frederick. The first time we clashed was more in part due to my draconic pride than anything else. The second time, he had a friend of mine at lancepoint, and I wasn't about to leave Megan in such a position. Despite all of that, I didn't want the guy dead or paralysed.

 **"Well, to be honest, it was because of my back."** I answered.

"Wait, your back? Were you injured during that Risen raid two nights ago?"

 **"Not quite. I received no wounds in that fight, but my scales really took a beating. The damage triggered a shedding, and shedding along my back has always been difficult. In Ferox I always had a mountain or boulder I could rub against to get them off. Here though, I've been using trees."** With that, I gestured around the ruined clearing. **"As you can see, it hasn't been working too well."**

"Damn, is it that bad?"

 **"Imagine getting something stuck between your teeth and it's wedging them apart. It doesn't hurt, but the sensation is highly unpleasant and every instinct is telling you to get rid of it. Now magnify that feeling by ten and spread it across your back."** The description was enough to make Sully cringe. Know my pain, woman.

"Anything I can do to help?" she offered. Jackpot.

 **"Why yes there is. Could you please climb on my back and get these dang scales off for me?"** I asked.

"Well, I suppose I could help, but how the hell am I supposed to get up there?" she asked, and in response I stretched my arm out as a makeshift ramp. "Uh, you sure that's safe?" she questioned.

 **"As long as you're careful, Sully, you'll be just fine."** I answered. Nodding, Sully dismounted and tied her horse to a nearby standing tree, then came to me and with extreme care, made her way up to my back. Eventually, she finally managed to get herself up there, clinging to one of my vents for support.

"Okay you big pitch spitting lizard, what now?"

 **"I'll let the lizard comment slide this time, though Naga have mercy if you say another. Now then, take that lance of yours and start prodding at he scales back there. If any wiggle, slip the point underneath and pry them off, simple as that."** With that, Sully got to work, and I soon felt the first of many loose scales come off. Boy that felt good.

"So, uh," Sully started, trying to find something to converse about while she worked, "I heard around camp that you may be from Plegia." That sounded much less accusatory than I thought it was going to be.

 **"No, I just said that to Robin to troll him."** I answered.

"Uh, troll?" Oh yeah, no meme culture here.

 **"A term used to describe someone either breaking rules or riling up a person in snarky, but humorous ways. While Plegia does share the same territory my home once resided in, I never lived in it."**

"So where _did_ you live then?" she asked with a grunt, and another scale was popped off.

 **"Doluna. A kingdom comprised solely of Manaketes."** I felt Sully pause in her work at that.

"I thought Manaketes were like, extremely rare or something. You telling me there was once a kingdom run by you guys?"

 **"Yes. Before the reign of king Marth, Manaketes were much more common. After the second sacking of Doluna, however, our numbers drastically dwindled due to humans slaughtering and enslaving us in droves. We already had difficulty keeping our populations up, and such actions against us pushed us into the brink of annihilation we stand upon now."**

"Wait, why the hell would us humans start doing that? Also, why the hell would the hero king not put a stop to that?"

 **"He did. Did you honestly think the hero king would condone such actions, especially after fighting alongside Lord Bantu and Tiki? He abolished slavery as soon as he took the throne, and made sure to put a stop to the 'dragon hunts' as they were called back in the day."**

"Then how the hell did it happen?"

 **"Simple, they waited until Marth wasn't around to enforce it anymore. A few well placed and well spoken lies later and it was open season on my kind once again."** My story must have really riled Sully up, because now she was going at my back like a woman possessed, a torrent of insults and expletives being muttered under her breath. I can honestly say I learned some new words that day. **"You know, if all your curses came true, you'd never be born, right?"**

"Damn right I wouldn't. All that stupid nobility political bullcrap was bad enough. Now I've found out just what all my ancestors titles of 'dragonslayer' actually meant; a glorified excuse to butcher innocents." she snarled out in reply. Okay, I couldn't help it. After hearing that, I laughed, and laughed hard, nearly throwing Sully off from my body shaking so hard.

 **"Innocent?"** I managed out between chuckles, though soon I got my mirth under control. **"Sully, the manaketes of my time were hardly innocent. Hell, when Doluna was in dominant power, humans were the ones in that position. It doesn't justify their actions, but don't go thinking my kind didn't bring it on themselves."**

"Still, knowing my family was up and slaughtering you guys back in the day, you must really hate my guts." she replied after a while.

 **"Sully,"** I said, twisting my neck so I could look Sully in the eyes, **"were _you_ participating in hunting my kin down?"**

"Wha, hell no!" she shouted in surprise.

 **"Then why would I hate you? What your ancestors did will only be held accountable to your ancestors as far as I'm concerned."** Silence soon followed after my statement, the only noise being the tapping of the lance against my scales.

"Well in any case, I think that does it for your back. Can't find anymore loose ones." she eventually answered, and what a relief it was to have all those darn things finally off. After managing to get down from me, Sully was untying her horse and about to leave, when I stopped her.

 **"Sully, a moment."** Once I had her attention, I reached up to my shoulder, and yanked a few fresh scales off, the action surprising the cavalier. **"For services rendered."** I said, offering the clawful of scales.

"Uh, not to sound rude or anything, but what exactly do these do?" she asked in confusion, gathering up the hand sized plates. Smoke and soot encompassed my vision for a moment as I reverted back into my humanoid form, and when it cleared I answered.

"Next time the Shepherds have a moment free, why don't you ask Megan. As a will mage, she should know their value."

"Why can't I just ask you?"

"Because I don't feel like telling." I answered, heading back to camp. Of course the real reason was because of Megan. With her being an apparent dark mage, there had been undercurrents of suspicion and fear from the rest of the group. Some were slight, others were more prominent, and then there was Frederick. The point was, the only way to fix it was to get people to talk to her, and in doing so, get to know her. That was why I wanted Sully to go to Megan. Once the two of us returned to the main encampment, I was met with more than a few cross stares, no doubt because of my previous roar.

"Uh, whoops?"

* * *

"Heya." A glance to my right confirmed the voice to be Megan. Nice hat. "How're you doing, Sir Zant." Sir, me? No thank you. Chuckling at that, I answered.

"None of that "sir" stuff Lady Megan, I'm no knight and all the title gets you in Ferox is an oversized suit of armour." That got Megan to grin.

"Well in _that_ case, don't call me a "lady", I'm told my vocabulary doesn't exactly fit. Just Megan will be fine." And yet Maribelle's mouth is far filthier when she's mad.

"Very well then, Megan. So, I hear you're from a far away country." Honestly, I didn't want to bring that topic up. Poor girl have been asked all about it from just about everyone. However, appearances had to be kept up. Thankfully, she didn't look too bored of the question.

"Yep, my homeland can be pretty neat. But epic stories of warriors with dragon souls and turnip throwing princesses can't compare to being in a place of legend." Skyrim _and_ Super Mario, nice one Megan. "I hear _you_ came from Plegia-or what it was before it was Plegia. So, any idea why some Plegians would kidnap little ol' me?"

"Meh, hardly anyone these days has even heard of Doluna." I dismissed, though why I just jumped to picking Doluna when I talked to Miriel still escaped me. As for her question, hmm. "As for being kidnapped, new land equals new knowledge, weapons, spells, and such like. Though how you ended up in Ferox is beyond me." Just like how _I_ ended up in Ferox as a Manakete. At least you're still human.

"Mm, you make a good point. Not that I know anything more than, I don't know, a military trained person would, so the joke's on them." Oh you'd be surprised, Megan. In this day and age, introducing them to gunpowder and flintlock rifles, heck, even cannons, could be devastating. And all that is common knowledge on Wikipedia. "Now that _that_ question is out of the way," she continued, " I have to ask; do you really have a fire in your belly? Or does the fiery sensation happen when you use it?" An interesting question.

"Not so much a fire in my belly, as a thick heaviness in my chest." I answered. It was a point of interest of me regarding my new body that I could feel exactly where my napalm was stored in my body while in mortal form. It honestly took me a little while to get used to the fact that the heavy congested feeling sitting between my lungs was my new normal. My answer sent Megan into a deep thought if all the 'huh' she was making was any indication.

"So," I venture, snapping her back into reality, "word around camp says you can use will magic. Not many outside Plegia are open-minded enough to learn the art." I refused to call it dark magic as that was a derogatory term made by idiots.

"Hm? Oh,if you mean elder magic, then yeah I've been looking into it. It's a useful tool, despite the bad reputation. At the very least I can learn how to defend against it." Oh, so it was called elder magic. Excuse me Megan while the healers get my foot out of my mouth.

"Oh, so you know its real classification." Smooth, Zant. Real smooth recovery. "Most idiots these days call it dark magic, when it's anything but." Narrow-minded bigots.

"I know! It's so frustrating!" she snarled, "I know it's because people equate "dark" to "bad", but they sleep or enjoy the stars at night don't they?" Preach it, sister. "Sometimes the light is too bright. Darkess can be quiet, and calm. I've always believed there should be a balance." Indeed. I had seen a few stories and ideas where "light" magic had been used to cause some pretty nasty stuff. In one such story I had read, a woman used a heal spell to "heal" all negative emotion from a group of soldiers, and proceeded to slaughter them all while they grinned like fools, simply because they could no longer feel the emotions necessary to fight back. When it comes to magic, or simply power in general, there is no good or evil spells, for power is completely neutral.

"Well these things happen when power is abused." I answered her little rant, which elicited a heavy sigh from the girl.

"It's still stupid. It's like... like hating all dogs simply because one bit you. The actions of one do not dictate the actions of all" she said.

"True, but anyone can own a dog. Not every mage, however, has a talent for the elder arts" I countered. "With superstition and hate crippling it's education in other nations, Plegia has a monopoly on dark mages. And with the actions of Plegia and it's past religious orders, it has only assured the minds of other nations that such magic is evil." That was elder magic's real problem, and until it was fixed, nothing could be done for it's image.

"From Gharnef to Grima... Well, I'm sick of it." Growling, she inclined her head and began getting a little more passionate about this topic if what her emotions were smelling like was any indication... wait. "I'm using "dark magic" to do good things. It won't change the world, but if I can change some minds to accept that a tool isn't morally inclined one way or the other, that'll be a start." A good idea, but ultimately flawed. Problem with that plan was that minds don't stay changed unless more minds change with them. Ultimately Megan's acts would become nothing but story, and the general opinion of dark magic would be back to square one. She needed something more permanent, something more influential, something... oh now _that_ was an idea. Getting a bit closer and lowering my voice for her ears only, I asked, "Have you thought of any plans regarding the failure of long term goals." Specific enough that she would know immediately what I was talking about, and vague enough that any eavesdroppers wouldn't get the whole context.

"I will concede that failure is a possibility," she answered at the same volume, "but I endeavor to hope for the best... even as I prepare for the worst."

"I'm just saying," I continued slowly; this could be a very touchy subject for her, "If getting home proves impossible, maybe you'd be willing to create an elder magic academy within Ylisse." At that, Megan let out a humoured snort.

"Fat chance of that happening. Even best case scenario, I don't see that going well." Taking a moment to school herself back into neutrality, she continued. "I'll adapt to whatever future we make." I opened my mouth to argue, and she instantly rounded on me. "But say anything about fate or inevitability and I will hit you." Geez girl, chill. Wait, there was that smell again, and it was coming from... oh. Oh. Oh this was was going to be fun. Unable to get the nefarious grin off my face, I answered despite it.

"Don't put the idea down just yet. It may be more possible than you give it credit for." Now _her_ mouth was pulled into a similar smirk.

"Oh really? And what makes you say that?" She asked, eyebrow raised in challenge.

"Well for one thing, how many people do you think do things solely because they're told not to." At that, Megan raised her hand as if she were in a classroom.

"Do I count for this question?" she asked, her grin widening further. "Okay, _assuming_ people don't burn me at the stake for the idea," Oh calm yourself Megan, Emmeryn probably outlawed that sort of thing, "what makes you think I'm any good at being a teacher-person? Especially to _kids_?"

"First, you're exciting." I fired off immediately. "Nothing engages kids to a lesson by making it _fun_. Second, it's new. Everyone wants to try new and cool things." A quiet giggle and a shake of her head was her response, but I knew she was considering it. "Well food for thought I suppose. Now if you'll excuse me, I think Sumia forgot to lock the enclosure gate. Wouldn't do for Sully's horse to get out, would it now?" Now snorts of mirth accompanied her giggles.

"Of course not. I've heard that horse is a real menace." With that, farewells were said and I was off to enact my diabolical plan. However, when I was a fair ways away, she muttered to herself. "'Exciting', he says... clearly doesn't realize this is the most time I've spent around people in the last five years _combined_..." Doubting herself was she? Well I was having none of that.

"I heard that," I shouted over my shoulder, "and you give yourself too little credit, Megan."

"I'll be the judge of that." was her retort.

* * *

Dear god, that had gone better than I had ever hoped. The support conversation had painted a pretty funny mental image, but seeing it actually happen? I could barely breathe I'd been laughing so hard. Of course, I made sure Sumia didn't get into any trouble from the incident, and vengeance was sworn from the afflicted parties, but it had been _so_ worth it. _Nothing_ was topping that on the hilarity scale any time soon. The moment I made it back to my tent however, was the moment I stood corrected. There it was, in all it's glory; the infamous poster. Buck naked Chrom? Check. Sword and scales? Check. 'Chrom wants you' motivation quote? Check. I had to act immediately, an opportunity like this would not present itself again. Grabbing the poster off the wall, I carefully rolled it up, and bolted out of my tent through the rear flap. Hiding myself a short ways away, I waited for Chrom to come scurrying to save dignity. I didn't have to wait long.

"Okay, up next is... Zant's tent." Oh? that was Robin's voice. Well now, this got even more interesting.

"Naga give me strength, I'm going in." Ah, there was Chrom. The flapping of canvas sounded Chrom had entered the tent, and a few seconds later called out in a panicked voice, "Robin, it's not here."

"Not there? What you mean it's not there?"

"I mean it's not here, Robin!" Oh gods above, what I wouldn't give for a cell phone right now.

"Maybe Frederick didn't put one in his tent. You know those two have been... clashing lately." Now the tent was shaking slightly, obviously Chrom was moving things around in a desperate, and futile, effort to find the errant poster.

"Robin, you don't know Frederick like I do. If he said he put a poster in everyone's tent, he put one in _everyone's_ tent, Zant included." The tent was shaking more violently now, and I knew it was time to go in for the kill. Silent as a shark in the night, I slipped around to the front of the tent line, and walked up to Robin. When he spotted me, he jumped in panic and was about to alert Chrom, then he saw the rolled up poster in my hand,and his look of panic became one of horror.

"Uh, Chrom?" he called out in a shaky voice. "I found the poster." Immediately, the tent flap was thrown open.

"Really, where?" the prince asked, then he spotted me, and his face went white.

"Looking for something?" I asked with a Cheshire cat grin, holding the rolled poster up. Chrom immediately schooled his features and strode up to me.

"Zant, give me the poster." he demanded. He was being stern, how cute.

"Hmm, no." I stated.

"As your commanding officer, I order you to hand me that poster."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I'll have you tried for insubordination in front of the whole camp."

"And in doing so, you will have to present this poster as evidence to the entire camp, rendering the point moot." That got Chrom to wince.

"I hate to say it, but he's got you there, Chrom." Robin piped up, causing the prince to growl in exasperation.

"Not helping, Robin." he said through clenched teeth. God, all this needed was a sitcom audience laugh and it would be perfect. "What do you want, Zant? I'll give you anything."

"Anything?" I echoed. Robin immediately caught my tone, and began gesturing wildly to Chrom not to do it.

"Yes, anything." Chrom repeated.

"Very well. I want this poster."

"No. Anything else, but not that."

"Then you have nothing I want."

"Zant, please."

"Robin?" Said person was not expecting to be addressed, and jolted when his name was called. "Am I the last person whom a poster is to be collected from?"

"Uh, no. We still have Miriel, Lissa, Stahl, and Kellam."

"Then with that knowledge, Chrom, do you honestly think you have the time to waste pleading for this. Naga knows what your sister will do when she sees this poster."

"Gods dammit." Gesturing for Robin to follow him, Chrom began storming off. "This isn't over, Zant. I _will_ get that poster back."

"I'd like to see you try." I called after their retreating forms, leaving me with my hard won prize. Now, what to do with it? Entering my tent, and fixing up everything Chrom had rearranged, I lied on my cot and thought of my options. My first plan was blackmail, but in the end I decided against it. Next was offering it to a potential love interest, but whom? Sumia? Nah, too mainstream. Cordelia? I'll admit the woman would pay through the nose for this, but a gut feeling was telling me no. Maribelle? Oh I could charge admission for the potential tongue lashing and have more coin than the national treasury. Sully? She'd just laugh for a bit and rib Chrom a little, no fun at all. Olivia? That would involve her having to stay put so I could give it to her. Fanclub? They'd destroy it in their haste to have it for themselves. Well, I'd think of something. Right now though, I had to guard this precious treasure like, heh, well like a dragon guarding his hoard. While I knew it was futile, Chrom would not be relenting any time soon, thus I required a hiding place for it. Fortunately, I knew just the spot.

* * *

Ylisstol was far grander than the single picture of it in the game could ever hope to display. While modern cities were certainly larger and far more bustling, they were found wanting to Ylisstol's amazing architecture, and far more expressive populace. There was an air of cheer about the city that nothing from home ever had. a ways behind the rest of the group, Lissa was practically giving Megan the grand tour, something I had no doubt the girl would adore. Unfortunately, Chrom wanted to relay the good news to his sister as swiftly as possible, as well as show off his new acquisitions to the Shepherds. Thus I was being brought straight to the palace. The palace itself looked just as beautiful as the city. White marble with gold inlay, bubbling fountains, and more than a few statues and symbols of Naga. Eventually we reached the Exalt, and when I laid my eyes on her face, for the briefest instant, another superimposed it. It was a face that held many similarities to the Exalt; a similar serenity, a similar countenance, a similar smile. And that face caused me to blurt out a name I had never known in my life, but at the same time felt as if it was burned into my core for eternity.

"Seraphia?" The name elicited many confused reactions from those garnered, save for Emmeryn, who regarded me with curiosity. Regaining myself, I gave my head a brief shake to clear it. "Forgive me, Exalt. You just reminded me of someone." With that, her smile returned.

"It's fine." she answered in a voice made of pure honey. The rest of the group gathered themselves as well, and Chrom's face broke into a pleased grin.

"Sister, I bring you success in our mission. Regna Ferox has pledges it's support to us. As an act of good faith, the Khans have lent the Shepherds several warriors, one of them being Zant here." With that I was brought forth, and everyone was giving me an expectant look. Was I supposed to say something, or do something?

 _"Zant."_ Robin whispered through a closed mouth. _"Your hood."_ What about it?

 _In Ylisse, it is customary for those meeting royalty to reveal their faces. would you mind lowering your hood good sir._

 _You're a long way from Ylisse, but very well._

The memory of the events within the game came swift and sudden, and I immediately realized what was going on.

"Oh, excuse my manners, your holiness. I have not set foot in the halidom in a long time." I apologized and immediately lowered my hood, eliciting gasps from several guards and servants when my horns were revealed. Having my hood up was a habit I retained from back home, and it also helped me blend in better. Having it off in front of strangers was, well, uncomfortable. Manners were manners though.

"Zant, sister, is a Manakete, as the horns show. He was also the one who helped secure our alliance with Ferox." Chrom said, though I really felt he was playing up my involvement. Before more could be said, the doors to the room opened, and in came Megan, Frederick leading her from behind. Lissa, who had come inside a little before, waved, but it looked like Megan was too focused on Emmeryn to notice. "Ah, here she is. Emm, this is Megan." Chrom introduced.

"A pleasure to meet you." Again, the sound of her voice evoked the sweetness of honey. Megan continued to stare, emotions flickering through her, rapid-fire. While I could smell them, Emmeryn obviously saw some of them in the girl's eyes. "Hm, are you alright?" she inquired.

"You're beautiful." Was the blunt response, to which no one was expecting. Now Megan was a good friend, and I only reserved my draconic humour for the likes of everyone else, but _that_ , that right there, was too good to pass up. Sorry Megan, but at least I could say I didn't play favourites. Alright, Zant, time to channel your inner George.

"Oh my." I purred out, and judging from the reactions, nothing more needed be said. The entire room, sans the Exalt, were looking at Megan like she had spontaneously grown a second pair of tits. Megan's only response was a quick glance to gauge everyone's reaction.

"What? I'm just calling it like I see it. It clearly runs in the family." Okay, in hindsight, I should have known she'd make it worse for herself. Having had my fun I decided to clear the air, in more ways than one.

"Oh don't go looking at her like that, she's just trying to be polite." Thankfully, it worked, for the most part. The group settled down somewhat, except for the Exalt, who hadn't reacted _at all_ to the situation, emotionally or otherwise. Damn, that woman had serenity down to an art.

"Then Regna Ferox will support Ylisse?" The hope swelling in her would linger in my nostrils for days it was so potent. "Thank you Chrom, I knew sending you was the right choice."

"You should have seen Zant's fight with the other champion Ferox is lending us! Perhaps now are people-" The smell of panic was the only warning I got when the door banged open and Phila came rushing in, and the news was not good.

* * *

"You disapprove." I did not have to turn to identify the owner of the voice that spoke to me.

"My opinions are of no consequence, your holiness." I replied, continuing to walk to the caravan.

"Come now. Your many years of life have given you far more experience than I could ever hope to gain in my lifetime. It would be remiss of me not to heed your counsel, wise one." That got me to turn to face the Exalt.

"I have been called many things in my life, Emmeryn, far more of them ill then good. Wise has only been given to me by the condescending, and the brown nosing."

"And now it has been bequeathed to you by one who is neither." was her response.

"I think you are a fool." I bluntly answered, turning back to proceed to my destination.

"Is it foolish to want to avoid conflict if necessary?"

"If necessary, or at all costs?" I countered.

"If necessary." was her answer.

"And just when is conflict necessary to you?" I asked, turning to face her once more. "When do you draw the line, your holiness?" I began to pace around her. "The current monarch of Plegia is not known for his... sanity, among other things. Do you honestly think words, no matter how heartfelt, will sway him?"

"It never hurts to try." she answered simply.

"On the contrary, your holiness, kingdoms have been doomed to ruination simply because words were chosen over actions." I countered.

"Perhaps more because the wrong words were spoken." Wow, she was dead set on this.

"Fighting for the right reasons does not make you an extension of your father."

"I know that." she answered quickly.

"Then why does the smell of fear coil about you?" I countered, and Emmeryn went silent. Ceasing my circling, I headed for the Shepherds' caravan, the Exalt not following.

"Emmeryn," I called out, "You wanted my counsel, well here it is. There are two kinds of pacifists in the world; pacifists, and complete idiots. I can only hope you are the former" With my piece said, I left Emmeryn alone, myriads of thoughts bouncing around undoubtedly in _both_ our heads.


	6. Chapter 6

Our march to what I knew would become a battleground was by far the most interesting one I had been on. Chrom and Lissa were quite surprised-and Frederick beyond the definition entirely-when Emmeryn asked that _I_ be her protection detail for a time. Frederick immediately unleashed a long winded argument over the matter, one I simply paid no attention to. The Exalt looked to be the kind of woman who made a decision and stuck to it, and I was proven correct when at the end of the retainer's tirade, she simply smiled.

"I trust him." was the response that left Frederick gaping like a fish for a good ten minutes. So there I was, in the center of our formation, walking right alongside the exalt herself. Just like the meeting room we had been in before, nothing about the journey so much as slightly fazed her from that state of serenity, not even Robin shrieking and shaking like mad to get whatever slimy thing Lissa shoved into his clothes this time.

"So, what was she like?" So it took me a bit by surprise when she asked that. Heck, I wasn't expecting her to even want to talk to me due to our conversation earlier.

"Who?" I asked.

"Queen Seraphia, what was she like?" she repeated. Now I was a bit nervous. How do you describe someone you've never met in your life. Well, time to BS my way through this yet again.

"I don't know if I'm the best candidate to answer that, your holiness. I'm afraid my knowledge of the first exalt's wife is rather lacking." I replied, only to receive a gentle smile in return.

"You give yourself far too little credit, wise one. As the only one here alive during her time period, that alone gives you more knowledge of her than any of us here." she answered.

"Yet I'm sure there are many a text that could go into far greater detail than I could hope to give." I replied back, and her smile only grew.

"It appears you misunderstand the question, Zant. I ask not of Queen Seraphia as she was as the exalt's wife, but rather as she was as a warrior amongst the man's ranks. The books tell very little of her in that regard, and much is mostly embellishment on the historians' part." Well, there went deflecting the conversation. With a heavy sigh, I relented.

"Very well, though I warn you, our meeting was brief, and I may not be much help."

"Any little bit you can tell would be greatly appreciated."

 _'Well, no getting out of it now.'_ I thought to myself, and organized my thoughts.

"Seraphia was, well, very much like yourself, your holiness. When not armed for war she was the very soul of serene and gentle. However, when dealing with the enemy, she was fully capable and willing to end a life if necessary."

"When was death necessary for her?" Emmeryn inquired.

"Whenever those she cherished were in mortal danger. If she felt that the enemy could not be redeemed, she would not hesitate to strike them down herself. Yet she also would always give her enemy the chance to surrender, no matter who they were. Most importantly however, she was always willing to give anyone a second chance, no matter their sins." I answered.

"It sounds as if you speak from experience." she remarked.

"Mayhap I do, your holiness." I fired back, and silence fell between us for a spell.

"It appears she was an amazing judge of character then. Whatever crimes you committed in the past, if she gave you a second chance despite them, it appears she was right to do so, as you are honouring it greatly." To that, I chuckled.

"What, by being enlisted into your sibling's merry little band? This was simply a by-product of helping myself, your holiness." The next thing Emmeryn said surprised me greatly

"I believe you do this for far more than just yourself, wise one." she replied with her usual serene smile. "Even this complete idiot can see that."

"Emmeryn, you are not an idiot, and it was insulting of me to say that to you. The problem is that many people see pacifism as the complete refusal to become involved in a conflict, no matter the situation. True pacifism is not just a shield, but a sword as well, and many people ignore that aspect. I'm just worried for your sake that you're one of them." Emmeryn's gaze slid away from me at that, and silence accompanied us for the rest of the march until we made camp for the evening, and I was relieved from protection detail by a very relieved Frederick. After pitching my tent, I grabbed my portion of tack and settled down for the night, though I couldn't shake the strange feeling I had been experiencing after talking to the exalt about Seraphia. It wasn't guilt that plagued me, but rather an odd feeling that kept telling me the falsities I had spoken were in fact, not so false at all. As I said, a very odd feeling indeed.

* * *

 _Tied to a post, and having been beaten with all manner of blunt objects, that was where I found myself. The poles of spears, the backs of axes, the flats of blades, the mailed fists and feet of soldiers, all smashed into my body. They wanted to make me scream, to cry, to beg for mercy. I had simply laughed in their faces. I had endured far more horrific tortures before their bloodlines had even begun to establish. What these soldiers had done to me now was only deserving of laughter in comparison. Eventually the mob had given up and dispersed, leaving me to broil in the heat of midday. The silence was broken by the flapping of canvas, alerting me that another soldier had decided to visit. I prepared myself for the upcoming beating, but when none came I grew curious as to why, and upon glancing at my visitor I had my answer. It was the Falcon knight of this rag-tag band. The same falcon knight who had snatched victory from my claws, whose lance had driven itself into my flight muscles and grounded me, who held their weapon to my chest whilst the fang of Naga hovered near my throat. Now though, instead of a lance in her hands, there was a full pitcher and cup._

 _"Interesting. So the angel herself comes to visit me. To what do I owe this honour?" I mockingly inquired, though I failed to keep the rasp out of my dry throat. Without response, she simply filled the cup with water, and offered it to me._

 _"Drink." was all she said._

 _"Do you think I was born yesterday, woman? It's poisoned." I answered. In response, the woman withdrew the cup, and without fear nor hesitation, drank it empty and waited. After several minutes passed without anything happening to her, she refilled the glass and offered it to me again._

 _"I assure you it's only water. Drink." she repeated, and I found myself conflicted. either this woman was a paragon of deception, or she was telling the truth, as I could smell not even a hint of a lie from her._

 _"And how am I to drink, fair maiden? My hands are bound." I remarked, shrugging my shoulders to emphasize my arms wrapping behind the post._

 _"I can easily hold the cup for you." she answered. No. I would not allow any dependency from a human, no matter how tiny the matter. Withdrawing my arms from their former position, I took the cup from her hand, her reaction delayed as the shock of seeing my arms in fact unbound passed through her._

 _"Did they not bind your arms?" she inquired, taking a fearful step back._

 _"Oh they did." I answered with a chuckle, then dipped a finger into the cup and ran the appendage across my lips. After ten seconds and no burn or itch or any discomfort manifested upon the moistened flesh, did I drink from the cup._

 _"Then how did you free yourself?" I decided to humour her, and held up my hand, pouring all my will and focus into what I was about to do. Soon, what was once a hand comprised of mortal flesh, soon transformed into the talons and scales of my true dragon form._

 _"Though the cords were thick, they weren't meant to rub against dragon scale." I remarked, and with a relieved sigh, released my hold on the partial transformation. The scales crumbled into smoke, leaving a fleshy hand once again. The sheer shock on her face was priceless, though she quickly regained her wits._

 _"If you have the means of freeing yourself, then why haven't you escaped?"_

 _"And how would I escape? I am without my dragonstone, bereft of any useful weapon, and situated in a heavily guarded area of your encampment. Were I to try to escape at this moment, I'd be dead in a matter of minutes, or degenerative in a matter of months. No, I can take some small freedoms back, but as long as your leader has my dragonstone, I must remain your prisoner, or face a far worse alternative." Setting the empty cup down, I gestured with my hands. "So, knowing that my claws are unbound, will you attempt to strip me of what little freedom I can liberate?" The woman seemed to mentally debate with herself for a minute, then proceeded to hand me the pitcher, which I took._

 _"So why did you attempt to assassinate milord." she asked._

 _"What farmer doesn't act to eradicate any vermin he finds within his grain store?" I answered._

 _"So that is what we are to you? Vermin?"_

 _"All humans are vermin, my dear."_

 _"And yet we 'vermin' have you completely subdued."_

 _"Just as vermin are fully capable of doing." I received no rebuttal, only the scent of confusion. Some further explaining would be in order._

 _"I see you are confused, so let's take this little analogy further. Vermin, on their own, have their dangers. A disease laden bite is about the worst they can do on their own. But if left unnoticed and unchecked, they pose a far greater threat. A pair of vermin can breed a veritable army in mere weeks, and with this army comes the real threats. Pox ridden hides summon plagues to destroy entire towns, and should that not kill everyone, the hammer blow of the famine they cause will finish the job. If by then action is finally taken against them, their numbers are beyond any hope of halting. This is how my kind live amongst yours. You humans, with the festering bite of your wyrmslayers, and the plague of your slavers ripping our meager communities apart. And when we do try to stop you, for every dragon there is a hundred humans to fight, and for every man killed ten more take his place. So yes, vermin are fully capable of subduing a dragon." The contempt in my voice was palpable at this point, and the woman across from me remained silent, deep in thought. Finally, after several minutes of silence, she spoke._

 _"While I can see why you view us that way, my kind are not all like that. Milord is actively working to abolish slavery completely, first for the Taguel, and most certainly the Manakete as well."_

 _"So did the hero king, and as soon as he died the people immediately reinstated the atrocities done to my kind. No matter how many righteous hearts rise up, in the end, your kind will not stop until every tribe save the divine is driven into extinction." I replied, shooting her argument down._

 _"Have you so little faith in my kind that you find us incapable of any change?" she asked._

 _"Yes." I immediately answered. "I once had faith in humanity. We all once had faith in humanity. Even Medeus, at one time, held faith in humanity. But in time, humanity's actions only served to make us relinquish that faith. I lost my faith in humanity when I watched my sisters, the only blood family I had left, be worked and beaten to death, and thrown into a charnel pit to rot." At that, the woman's expression became that of abject horror, but I was not done. "I lost my faith in humanity when pleas of surrender fell on deaf ears and the defeated were tortured and butchered. I lost my faith in humanity when innocents sheltering themselves behind Doluna's walls, manaketes who had no part in the fighting whatsoever, innocent matriarchs and whelplings, were butchered in the streets or their own homes, and those were the lucky ones."_

 _"The hero king would never allow such a thing!" She shouted at me._

 _"Maybe not Marth, woman, but his grandfather, Anri the unifier, certainly did." I fired right back, causing her to recoil back. "And even when Marth put a stop to it all, as soon as he died, his wishes were completely ignored. So yes, I find your kind quite incapable of change, because in all my long centuries of life, I have not seen any lasting change. There were those who were kind to dragons, who loved them with all their hearts, but they were always the exception, and were oftentimes turned on by their own kith and kin for such beliefs. The majority, has always treated my kind as less than nothing, with the exception of, once again, Naga's tribe. Such hypocrisy is beyond disgusting." The woman remained silent and still for a long time, until finally she rose to leave._

 _"For what it's worth," she said, "while I cannot speak for the rest of my people, I am truly sorry for the actions my kind have taken upon yours."_

 _"Words alone cannot undo nor change. Your apology is but meaningless sound and wind." I answered bitterly._

 _"Yet it is all I have to give." she responded, a response I was not expecting._

 _"I'll admit that you are... different. I tried to kill the one person you hold dearest in this army, and yet unlike the rest of your fellow soldiers, you came to me not to cast down your hate upon me, but to try to understand why I did what I did. Why?"_

 _"For the same reason milord spared you. Hating you would only perpetuate the cycle you spoke of. If there is to be any hope of ending it, we must let go of our hatreds and be willing to extend forgiveness."_

 _" My sins, both against yours and mine own kinds, are far too numerous to forgive." I answered, a touch of forlorn I my voice._

 _"Anyone who feels remorse for past grievances is deserving of forgiveness." she fired back without hesitation._

 _"...What is your name, milady?"_

 _"My name is Seraphia, and yours is?" Seeing no harm in it, I told her._

* * *

"Oi Zant! Wake up, we're leaving." Sully hollered into my tent, snapping me out of the extremely strange dream I had. It had been similar in feel to the one I had back in Ferox, more a memory than an actual dream. At least this one didn't have me puking my guts out. Oh well, pondering it could wait, we had places to be and battles to wage. Getting my tent packed and on the caravan, we once again marched for the Plegia/Ylisse border. This time however, I was feeling a bit restless, quite a bit restless. A few minutes into the march and my restlessness had grown into a need, and I finally realized what that need was. I swiftly made my way to the front of the formation, where Chrom, Robin, and Emmeryn were having a discussion. Noticing my presence, Robin was the first to greet me.

"Hello Zant, was there something you needed?" he asked.

"That depends. Do you have any outriders currently about?" I inquired.

"Outriders?" Robin echoed, clearly confused by the name.

"Forward scouts?" I simplified, and Robin made an 'ah' of recognition.

"No. Well, Frederick _is_ scouting the path ahead, but we don't have Sully or Stahl out if that's what you're implying." Well, that made things easier.

"Robin, that is a serious tactical blunder you're making." I told him. "Have you forgotten what plagues the roads these days? Bandits, highwaymen, risen, all of these could catch the Shepherds by surprise."

"I think we're fully capable of handling a few bandits, Zant." replied Chrom, to which I shook my head.

"And I'm not saying you can't, captain. What I am asking is if you and the other Shepherds will be fast enough to stop them from causing significant damage." If the way Robin's eyes widened was anything to go by, he had realized exactly what I was implying.

"You're right. I _am_ making a serious blunder here. I'll get our cavaliers out there immediately." Jackpot.

"No need, Robin. I'll scout." I replied.

"You? Wouldn't it be better to stay with the formation in case of an attack." Robin inquired.

"If I stayed with the group, I'd only be another sword. As a dragon, I'd be too liable to harm allies as well as enemies in close quarters." Robin mulled it over, and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, so what do you bring to the table in terms of scouting?"

"The biggest advantage is that I can fly, meaning I can cover far more ground than a scout on horseback." I responded, and Robin nodded.

"Alright, but Sumia can go airborne as well. What advantage do you have over a Pegasus Knight?" He questioned.

"Simple. I can climb to much higher altitudes than a pegasus. This will make me look like a bird at a passing glance to those on the ground, and if they do notice, I'm well out of bow and spell range. Furthermore, my eyesight is strong enough to see everything on the ground clearly from such heights." I retorted.

"And if you do get attacked, you're far more resilient to arrow fire and wind magic than a Pegasus Knight. Alright, I'm convinced. I just need to know how you'll signal to us that enemy forces approach." Easy enough.

"A smoke signal. If I fly over the camp trailing a large plume of smoke behind me, you'll know to start preparing."

"Alright then, clear skies, and safe travels." With that, I left the formation, assumed dragon form, and launched myself into the air. After climbing to a high enough altitude, I began my patrols. The reason I had been feeling so restless earlier was because I was in some serious need for strenuous activity whilst in my draconic body. In her support conversations with female Robin, Nah did this by rampaging. I achieved this through long and hard flights instead. While I liked destruction as much as the next guy, it could not compare to the sheer exhilaration and freedom of flight. It had taken weeks to figure out how to fly back in Ferox, but the rewards spoke for themselves. In my opinion, it was only through flight that I could truly view the world through a dragon's eyes. And oh the things I could see. The thin pillars of smoke in the distance represented our group's destination, and the tinier wisps all across the landscape were the fires of camps. Be they friend or foe I couldn't yet tell, but a quick fly-by always yielded an answer. For the most part it was game hunters, though I did fly over a bandit encampment here and there. As much as I'd like to swoop down and cause absolute devastation to the groups, I was supposed to be scouting. As long as those bandits made no move towards the Shepherds' position, they'd live to plunder another day. This was how the hours ticked by, and when the sun had well passed it's zenith, did my stomach growl for nourishment.

Mentally acquiescing to a late lunch break, I made one more circuit around the formation, before deviating to a more wooded area of land. Scouring the ground below for signs of game, I caught sight of a large bull moose drinking from a stream. Slowing my approach, I waited until I was at the correct angle, then dove down at my prey for a killing strike. Noticing the growing shadow I was casting, the moose looked in my direction. However, even as he made to flee, I was coming in far too fast for escape to be possible. Reaching out with claws outstretched, I snatched the moose by his head and drove him into the ground, the rest of my clawed limbs carving furrows into the soil as I quickly shed speed. Once I had come to a complete stop, I checked my catch, snorting in satisfaction when I saw the impact had snapped its neck for an instant, painless kill. Belatedly, I realized I had a problem. I was still on the clock, and had no time to dress, butcher, and cook this moose in any sort of timely fashion. Yet again however, my stomach growled in hunger, and a thought crossed my mind. I already was in dragon form, so why not eat as a dragon? After a quick mental debate, I decided I didn't have a choice if I wanted to eat _and_ stick to schedule. So, swallowing what revulsion the human aspect of my mind offered up, I used a claw to clean out the carcass of internal organs, brought my jaws down, and tore a chunk of flesh from the carcass. While the raw meat tasted no different than it would to a human tongue, I found the flesh oddly appetizing, and soon found myself going for another piece when I finished the first. This continued, my mind throwing up less and less resistance to the act until I felt no different about it than eating a regular meal with the Shepherds. Three quarters of the way through the moose, and my stomach was gurgling in content, though I opted to eat the whole thing, save the bones, seeing as I had killed to sustain myself and thus should not let anything go to waste in respect for the prey. Once I had consumed the last chunk of meat I could, I had begun to get drowsy. Resisting the urge to nap, I prepared to return to the skies, when suddenly an arrow whizzed out of the treeline, striking my armoured side with a loud clack. Whipping my head to face the direction of the attack, I soon saw that I had unwanted company. A group of men had squared off against me, and a quick glance at my surroundings told me more were positioning themselves in the treeline.

"Well, well, well. Look what we managed to find boys, an honest-to-goodness Manakete." said the man in the front of the main group. By the looks of his clothes and weapons, his class had to be an assassin, I was pretty sure no other class save Bowknights used both bows and swords, and he wasn't mounted. The others in the group consisted of four knights in thick armour, and two fighters, along with another four archers trying to flank me.

"Uh, boss, you sure we should go at this one? It looks pretty big." said the first fighter. Well this was unexpected; a bandit with a brain.

"The bigger the better with these ones." answered the boss, the stench of greed radiating from him like a miasma. "Remember the last one we sold to Plegia? Tiny little thing compared to this one, but worth near a damned fortune it was. We bring this one in, we'll be set for life boys." A snarl ripped past my lips. This band of bandits weren't your regular pillagers, they were slavers, and they had already condemned a manakete into slavery. I would be showing no mercy to this group.

"Uh, boss, you sure we can take this one? Looks way stronger than that last one we bagged." asked one of the armoured knights this time.

"Quit your bellyachin' boys, I got _this_ don't I?" With that, the leader unsheathed his sword, revealing it to be in fact, a wyrmslayer. Another, louder snarl ripped through me at the sight of the blade, causing the ringleader to grin.

"Oh, know what this is do you?" the leader remarked to me. "Then you know how much trouble you're in if you don't come quietly." I had only one answer to that. I roared, loudly. The underlings flinched back, but the leader was way too lost in his own greed to realize the danger he was in. "Suit yourself." he replied after my roar ceased. "Alright boys, just like last time, and by sunset tomorrow you'll never have to work another day in your life." The prospect of vast wealth had emboldened and rallied his band from the effect my roar had on them, and with the cheers of his men behind him, he charged at me with his wyrmslayer.

"I'll carve ya to pieces!" he hollered, wyrmslayer held for a thrust. Oh, so he got a crit did he? Too bad zero times three...

 _Ting!_

Was still zero. With ease I caught the blade between two fingers, completely arresting the slaver's charge.

"What the..." was all he managed before I twisted my wrist, flipping him to the ground hard. Before he could even begin to rise, two claws came down on him and punched through his throat and heart. The man died in seconds, gurgling in his own blood. Flipping the wyrmslayer between my claws, I held it in a classic pencil breaker hold, and brought my left hand down on my right foreleg as hard as I could. With a shrill ring, the wyrmslayer snapped into three pieces. Looking at the now leaderless group of slavers, I saw that I had put the fear of Naga straight back into them, and then some.

"It, it killed the boss like it was nothing." One of the knights stammered out.

"So what, it's still ten on one. All this means is the boss can't go hogging all the coin for hisself. We attack all together, no way this thing stands a chance." With that, the unit of knights charged at me, lances bared, and the archers nocked their bows. Poor fools, the lot of them. Waiting until the knights were in range, I quickly spun, lashing out with my tail and driving all four knights to the ground. Hearing the twang of bows, I glanced at the archers as they fired. True to my expectations, my scales were too hard for the arrows to penetrate, and they clattered ineffectually against my side. Seeing this, the archers began to reload for a second volley, but they were too slow, and I struck them with a blast of napalm. Were I still human, the screams would have haunted me for the rest of my life, but as a dragon, I couldn't care less. Luckily the area was quite lush and green, so I wouldn't have too worry about a forest fire. Spinning around again, I saw the knights were struggling to get up from the ground, and I capitalized on their unfortunate position, dousing them in liquid fire as well. All that was left now were the two fighters. Seeing their heavies getting cooked in their own armour broke any spirit they had left, and they bolted in the opposite direction. Oh no they didn't. With a roar, I gave chase, fast enough to keep pace but slow enough to let them sustain a lead on me, creating a chase scene worthy of a Jurassic Park movie. Branches were broken, trees were felled, and fires were lit, and it was glorious. After a few minutes, I decided to make a move on the two wailing bandits and picked up a bit of speed to shorten the lead. Once I was close enough, I stretched my neck out and snatched one of the fighters by his collar in my jaws, and his screams of terror were doubled.

"IT'S GOT ME! IT'S GOT ME! HEEEEEEEEELLLLPPP!" he screamed as I dragged him back to me, letting the other fighter run ahead. Having enough of the man's shrieking, I dropped him and crushed him underneath my claws with a good stomp. Now for the last one. Following the obvious trail the man left behind, I eventually came upon the slaver group's camp, and lo and behold, there was Mr. Fighter with another group of his buddies, shaking like a leaf in the autumn breeze. The new group consisted of some more fighters, and surprisingly a couple of cavaliers. This group was a little more tricky to deal with, as I had the cavaliers constantly flanking me on both sides, but they too were finally dispatched. Now it was just me and the last fighter of the group, who was cowering with his back to a tree.

"Please," he begged, "please have mercy. Please for the love of Naga have mercy."

 **"You have willingly sentenced one of my kind to slavery already."** I answered, and bared forth a single claw. **"You'll get no sympathy from me."** Quick as lightning, my claw punched through the man's head and into the bark behind it, killing him instantly. Once that bit of business was done, I looted through the camp to see what the bandits had hoarded. The first thing I found was a large chest of coin, no doubt collected through ill means. Next were a bunch of weapons; swords, axes, some lances, and hello, a beast killer. Well now, that was a good haul indeed. Another small chest was opened to reveal several bullions of gold, very nice. Finally there were rations, spare tent canvas and other supplies. Using the rope and canvas to create a large satchel, I loaded up my spoils, and tied the makeshift bag to the center of the bundle of lances. A quick test showed the lances could easily hold the weight, and I set the bag down to give one final check of the encampment. Wouldn't do to leave any unfortunate captives stranded here. Fortunately, the camp was empty, and gathering up my spoils, I took to the air once again, the nagging restlessness plaguing me all day having ceased completely. A quick check of the sun told me I had spent more time on the ground then I'd have liked, so I quickly tracked down the Shepherds' position, and completed a quick circuit around them to make sure no threats were in close proximity, then returned to a more casual patrol.

* * *

"Ah Zant you're- where did you get all that?" Chrom asked, pointing at the large satchel I had deposited on the ground. Shifting back to my manakete form, stretched my arms to relieve the small ache in them. Telling Chrom and Robin an abridged version of what happened earlier (I left out the grislier details, as well as the other encampment I had given a very _crappy_ evening to.), Chrom was quite pleased hearing that the slavers had been dealt with.

"Good work, Zant. I'll have Frederick come by and sort all this into the convoy. Get yourself something to eat and some rest. You've earned it."

"I think I'll pass on the meal. I already ate." I replied, that moose was still going strong. With that, I headed out to pitch my tent, a very prolonged silence following behind me. The last thing that happened before I retired was Megan approaching me. Apparently she had been volunteered by Lissa to help Frederick with the morning chores, and asked that should she perish, I'd collect her body.

"And what would you like done with it, hm?" I couldn't help but tease. "Donation to science? A proper burial? I warn you, I only do cremations."

Oh ha, ha, ha, very funny." she shot back. "...Definitely donation for science."

* * *

Two days later we finally reached Themis, and boy the place was a mess. Emmeryn immediately called for relief efforts to be made for the beleaguered town, the extra tents and rations I procured being very helpful in that regard. After the citizens had been taken care of, Robin had rounded us all up and began coordinating clean up efforts.

"Now remember, if you see Megan, make sure she does nothing strenuous and gets herself some sleep." I glared out the corner of my eye at Frederick. I didn't doubt the man had been running Megan ragged with chores, we're not all super-nanny. Robin then broke us up to do our tasks, and I was helping haul out burned planks, broken masonry, and other such debris. However, when it came to the bigger stuff...

"GRAAAAAAAAAHHFFFFF!" I heaved out as I tried, with little success, to lift a main rafter beam by myself. Unfortunately, I had a witness to my display of physical fail.

"Seriously? you can turn into a giant creature of myth, but you can't lift a single beam?" Sully asked, clearly amused.

"Shut up, Sully!" I snapped.

"Hey, I'm just sayin'." she replied, holding her hands up. "Maybe you should see Frederick for a few weeks. He'll have you in shape in no time."

"I'm fine as is, Sully." I retorted. No way was I sitting in on fanatical fitness hour.

"You sure, 'cause you're kind of gettin' out-muscled by Stahl over there." A quick glance told me Stahl was indeed hauling more weight than me with no problem.

"...Alright, that's it!" Below average was I? Well, let's see who's below average when I put everything I got into it. A rush of flames later and I was hefting the entire roof's worth of rafter's like a champ.

 **"Hah! _Now_ who can't lift?" ** I barked out.

"Oi! That's cheating, Zant." Sully accused.

 **"Using one's capabilities to their fullest is most certainly not cheating, Sully."** I replied.

"It is when you're a damn dragon!" she fired back.

 **"I can't help it if I was born a dragon."**

"It's still cheating."

 **"No it's not."**

"Is too."

 **"Is not."**

"Is too."

 **"Is not."**

"Is too."

 **"Is not."** At this point, Robin and Vaike had shown up, watching the childish proceedings.

"Is too."

 **"Is not."**

"Is too."

 **"Is not."**

"Is too."

 **"Is not."**

 **"Is too."**

"Is not."

 **"Is too."**

"Is not."

 **"Is too."**

"Is not."

 **"It is too, and I can prove it."** I declared with finality.

"It is not and I don't care!" yelled Sully, causing me to grin in victory.

 **"Okay then."** I conceded, and just as Sully was about to declare victory, her brain finally caught up with her mouth.

"HEY!" she screamed, and I erupted into laughter, our audience little better. Robin had a hand to his mouth and was trying, and failing miserably, to suppress his giggles, whilst Vaike was outright howling in mirth, slapping his knee in a futile effort to control himself.

"Grr, you stupid pitch spewing, cheating lizard!" Sully hollered, red faced, and proceeded to kick me in my draconic leg. All it did was make me laugh harder. Gritting her teeth, the cavalier stomped off, face flushed with embarrassment. Finally reigning himself in, Robin reminded me that there was still work to do and to finish before it got dark, before he and Vaike left me be, chuckling all the while. Continuing t work as a dragon speeded up a lot of jobs immensely, and soon I found myself with little else to do. Returning to manakete form, I decided to hunt down some ingredients for tea. I remembered reading on the old fanfiction forum she and I used to frequent that Megan was a huge fan of tea, and I was getting a craving for some myself. Tracking down a mostly intact herb shop, I bought (And I use that term loosely because the elderly woman who ran the place was practically giving me what I wanted as a thank you for helping around town.) some varieties of herbs for tea. Retrieving a mug from my ruined tea set, I had two fresh cups of tea steeping away. Grabbing one for Megan, I left the other one to steep until I returned, I liked my teas strong. Asking around for Megan's whereabouts, Stahl pointed me in the right direction, and asked me what the heck a snickers bar was. After giving him an approximation of the candy bar, I continued my search and finally came upon Megan, off to one side of the current clean up zone and sulking.

"Well it's not chocolate, but you'll love it all the same." I told her, offering her the mug I was keeping warm. As soon as she laid eyes on that steaming mug, she brightened considerably. Using her coat sleeves as a heat shield, she graciously accepted the cup of her favorite beverage.

"Is it tea? I _love_ tea." She said in delight, and I nodded in confirmation.

"I made it myself. Juniper berry and Ginseng tea, just the thing for that all nighter aftermath." The juniper was mostly for flavour, and the ginseng would give her some energy to combat the lethargy she was no doubt feeling if her appearance was anything to go by. Did Frederick even let her sleep? Breathing in the aroma with gusto, she gave me a wide smile and took a delicate sip of the hot liquid, and I could see she was very pleased with it.

"Aaah. Tea, glorious teaaa..." She sighed out. Savouring the aroma once more, I could see her body already unloading a great deal of stress. "Okay, what's our game plan, Stan?" she asked.

"Actually, I came by to check on you." I said, worry for her creeping into me. "You know what's coming up. Are you going to be alright?" She and I both knew how these negotiations were going to go. I could smell the beginnings of a lie forming around her, but the scent immediately vanished as soon as it appeared.

"Well, I can't lie to you, Mr. Toucan Sam." Was that a jab at my nose or a random reference? It was so hard to tell with this girl. "So... I won't. I don't want to get into another fight." A powerful sigh ripped through her then, carrying with it the weight she internally bore from all this. "But we both know that's not really avoidable at this point." I nodded at that.

"My biggest concern about this," I added quietly, "is that this time it won't be Risen we're going to be fighting. I have draconic psychology to buffer that, but I'm worried about you here." And I was very worried for her, as worried as I could possibly be for her. In media of all kinds, the psychological consequences of killing fellow human beings painted a very grisly picture. We were in an entirely new world, and in my case an entirely new body, and that was stressful enough. Adding psychological trauma from killing could possibly cause some serious damage to Megan's psyche. For her part, Megan grimaced.

"Exactly _why_ I don't want to do this. But, we have to save Maribelle, and keep an aspiring Shepherd out of trouble." Ah yes, Ricken. I thought I had seen the tip of a blue mage hat when I was helping around town. Straightening to show I was serious, I got to the meat of the matter.

"Then answer me this. If it ever comes down to you or them out there, will you be able to take a life?" Megan didn't respond immediately, and I could see in her eyes she was being very careful and serious in how she answered this question. Finally, after a minute of internal organization, she answered.

"...It won't be easy to deal with the psychological aftermath." she admitted quietly. "But I'm not just going to lie down and die. If someone's coming at me with an axe..." Her entire being seemed to deflate upon the next statement. "Then I'll have to stop them." I nodded at this. She may not wish to kill anyone, but she would do all in her power to defend herself, and that would be enough for now.

"That's all that matters." I answered, offering one last bit of advice. "Just whatever you do, don't freeze." Just as I was about to leave, I stopped to add one last important thing. "As for any psychological consequences, you can always come to me. I may not be able to... _feel_ these kinds of things anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't understand them." The scent of mixed feelings coiled about her as Megan gave me an odd looking smile.

"Right, and don't you die on me either, Zant. Abuse your OP dragon powers to the max." Oh, no need to tell _me_ that, Megan.

"Oh, you needn't worry about me. Unless they're packing wyrmslayers, I'll be just fine." With that, I left Megan alone with her tea. Helping finish some tasks here and there, I soon retired to my tent. Upon reaching it however, I saw a hawk had perched atop it, bearing the crest of Flavia. Immediately realizing what it was here for, I quickly wrote a concise report on the situation, as well as my observations of Robin so far. Attaching the letter to the hawk, I lifted it into the air, where it began its journey north. After watching the hawk soar into the distance, I retreated into my tent, mentally girding myself for the upcoming confrontation tomorrow. On the plus side, I pretty much knew what to expect for the most part. And as an added benefit, draconic mentality beats horrors of warfare every time.

* * *

Tomorrow would show me just how big of an idiot I truly was.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **And done. Here we go, people. Next chapter the real fight begins.**

 **So, Like it/Love it/Hate it? R &R please.**


	7. Chapter 7

The western border cliffs of Ylisse. It was these jagged rock faces that served as the border between the halidom, and the desert nation of Plegia. The cliffs rose in three tiered layers, and narrow paths carved into them, parting the rising rock to create narrow channels. And it was these channels that would be both our greatest ally and challenge in the upcoming skirmish. Were the enemy all infantry, all we would have to do is hunker down on our end and watch as our enemy ran themselves into a slaughter, the unyielding stone around them preventing numbers or large weapons from factoring in.. However, the host that would oppose us this day was made up of more than just infantry. The range of magic would make sitting still impossible, and fliers had no need nor care of terrain. However, strategizing this confrontation did not fall to me, so I would leave it to Robin's capable mind. It was currently midday, our company having left Themis at the crack of dawn, and while the sun was above us, every hour brought it closer to the western horizon and into our faces, impairing our vision further. Ah, there I went again. Perhaps it was nerves, or perhaps anticipation, but this situation was really bringing out the strategist in me. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on the outlook, we had arrived at our destination. Standing atop a rock shelf was the mad king in the flesh, along with his fork-tongued advisor, Aversa. The main force halted a short distance away, whilst the royal family proceeded towards the monarch of Plegia. I noticed Megan trying to get closer, only to be stopped by Frederick. Close enough to hear everything, yet far enough away to not be able to react to instant threats. If things took a turn for the unexpected, we might be having some problems. Gangrel's sinister chuckle snapped my focus back on him.

"What's this, then? The Exalt herself, in all her radiance? I fear I must shield my eyes!" he said mockingly, throwing a hand in front of his eyes and laughing like a loon at his own joke.

"King Gangrel," Despite the man before her insulting her, Emmeryn's tone was still respectful, "I've come for the truth of this incident between us."

"The truth?" It was Aversa who spoke this time, her tone mocking as well. "I can give you the truth."

"Perhaps milady would share her name?" Emmeryn questioned.

"You may call me Aversa." she replied.

"Very well, Aversa. Is Maribelle unharmed?"

"Who? Ah yes, the little blonde brat." replied Gangrel. With a gesture, he signalled a barbarian forth, and with him, a bound and blindfolded Maribelle, who was most definitely not happy.

"Wretched beast! Unhand me you gutter-born troglodyte." she shouted, alongside a host of other expletives. Gracious woman, do you kiss your mother with that mouth? And she's confused why Brady talks the way he does?

"Maribelle!" Lissa shouted with relief, no doubt having been stressed out the whole way here. Her exclamation did cease Maribelle's violent cursing.

"Lissa? Darling, is that you?" Maribelle called out, turning her head in the direction of Lissa.

"This girl," Aversa's voice was like a serpent in the night, "crossed the Plegian border without our consent. And what's more, she wounded the brave Plegian soldiers who sought only to escort her safely home."

"LIES!" Maribelle shrieked. "You speak nothing but lies, hag! Did they not teach the meaning of the word 'truth' in wretched-crone school!?" Holy shit. I knew men with smaller balls than this woman. Bound and blindfolded, a healer class with no offensive capability yet, surrounded by soldiers, and insulting a hierophant of the Grimleal cult who could kill her in who knows how many ways in who knows how much time, yet that still wasn't stopping her. Aversa however, merely chuckled in response.

"...You see? No manners at all." she said. "Such a nasty little bird simply had to be caged." Gangrel then cleared his throat to get things back on track.

"Such a violent temper speaks to her will call for a weighty punishment. And if she were to later confess to being an Ylissean spy? My goodness! It would take an act of considerable good faith to repair our relations." Okay, so far so good, or at least as good as it could get in this situation. The script was still being followed for the moment, but that didn't mean things couldn't change. Stay on guard, Zant.

"I have done nothing wrong!" Maribelle exclaimed. "It is they who should confess! They are the ones who invaded Ylisse. They razed an entire village. When I attempted to intervene, they took me and dragged me across the border. Let the plundered shops and charred homes of that village serve as my proof!"

For his part, Gangrel was simply buffing and inspecting his claw-like nails, having no interest in Maribelle's tirade.

"That would only prove Ylisse has a bandit problem- something I hear oft of late." he said dismissively. "But indeed, tonight I shall weep salty tears into my pillow for your dead villagers." The stench of deceit, both in voice and intent, was wafting through the air like a decaying corpse on a hot day. It was beginning to make me retch. Maribelle was pleading for the Exalt to believe her, which of course everyone did before we even got here. The accounts of the survivors of Themis had long told us who the aggressors were in this accusation. Gangrel was just setting up a Cassis Belli, and even then, who would it appeal to? Ylisse was the wounded party, Regna Ferox would know exactly what this was the moment it went down, Valm was embroiled in its own war, and Walhart wouldn't care who and what caused this war, only that in the end this land was his. The Mad King simply wanted to put on a show, I could see why this man was a trickster, his jester's attire certainly showed his place in Plegia: the complete and utter fool dancing to the Grimleal's strings.

"King Gangrel. I demand you release this woman at once." Emmeryn's voice carried through the air. "Surely you and I can resolve these affairs without the need for hostages."

"Oh? Without so much as an apology? Why should I even bother with parley?" Gangrel replied. "I'm within my rights to have her head and be home in time for supper." Now he was antagonizing the royals, trying to rile them up into making a rash decision.

"You black hearted devil!" And of course, Chrom was walking into the trap like a complete fool.

"Control your dog, my dear, lest he gets someone hurt." The mad king pointed to Maribelle, and Chrom begrudgingly backed down. Things were still going according to the script. However, if Grima decided to change things, we could be in serious trouble. I was hoping that Grima was merely overseeing the timeline, making sure everything went as it did in his time period. As long as things played out like they did in the game, it meant that Grima wasn't taking an active role in altering events.

"Now then, your graceliness. Perhaps we can arrange a trade? You give me the Fire Emblem, and I return Mari Contrary here in one piece." And there was the meat of the matter. The offer caught Emmeryn off guard.

"You would ask for Ylisse's royal treasure? But why?" she asked.

"Because I know the legend!" Gangrel exclaimed. "The Fire Emblem is the key to having all one's wishes realized. I have desired it for years. Years! ...Yet my birthday comes and goes each year, and nothing from Ylisse. Heheh..."

"The Emblem's power is meant for a single purpose, King Gangrel: to save the world and its people in their most desperate need." Not quite your holiness. The Emblem could be turned to ill if the Awakening could be performed for the Fell Dragon. "Would you claim a more noble wish?"

"I want what every Plegian wants- a grisly end to every last Ylissean! What could be more noble than that?" Emmeryn was startled by the response he gave. At last, Gangrel's true intentions were clear for all to see. "Surely you haven't forgotten what the last Exalt did to my people. Your Father named us heathens! His 'crusade' across Plegia butchered countless of my subjects and my kin!"

Well, worshipping a dragon with the power to bring forth Armageddon and seeking to resurrect it doesn't exactly win you brownie points, buddy.

"...I have never denied Ylisse's past wrongdoings. But I have sworn to never repeat those mistakes. Ours is now a realm of peace." stated Emmeryn.

"Yours is now a haven of hypocrisy!" Gangrel snarled back. "Now give me the Fire Emblem!"

"No, your grace, you mustn't!" Maribelle called out once more. "I'd sooner die than act as a bargaining chip for this filthy reprobate!" At this point, Gangrel was fed up.

"Ugh... Taaaaaalk talk-talk-talk-talk. It's time to speak louder than words! This negotiation is over, your luminosity! I shall have the Emblem if I have to pry it from your shiny dead hands!" With that, Gangrel sprung his trap. A small group of soldiers came rushing down the path, heading for the Exalt . As soon as they got close, Chrom swung out with Falchion, carving into a man and dropping him dead, and Megan lashed out with a fireball that had the other backing off with some nasty burns.

"Stay back, lest you all suffer the same fate!" Chrom barked out.

"Oh? Now that's a declaration of war if I've ever heard one. A big, messy war that you Ylisseans dry." said Gangrel, laughing away. Now Aversa was strutting up to Maribelle.

"Poor, stupid girl... Are you really worth fighting a war over?" she purred out. "Years from now you'll only be remembered as she who destroyed house Ylisse." The words had the intended effect; Maribelle was becoming distraught. Suddenly a blast of magic wind carved up the soldier holding Maribelle, snapping her bonds as well. Cue the intrepid young hero. A brief exchange, and Ricken fired another Elwind at Aversa. Of course being on solid ground, a Dark Flier, and max level to boot, meant Ricken wasn't gonna do any damage any time soon. However, the spell was enough to blast Aversa back a distance. Grabbing her hand, Ricken immediately started running with- No you idiot, the other way. Shit, Ricken was trying to rendezvous with the main force of the Shepherds. The idiot was going to get himself and Maribelle caught in the center of a warzone. This however, meant that script had been followed to the letter, and Grima had no hand of interference in these events. With that, Robin immediately started giving orders.

"Alright everyone, form up!" Lissa and Emmeryn pulled back into the group, Chrom joining them when Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Doofus were tweedle done with. "Alright, box formation surrounding Lady Lissa and the Exalt. Chrom, you and I will head the formation. Miriel, Megan. You stay behind us and provide supporting fire with your magic. Make sure to hit any fliers you can reach with wind magic. Stahl, Sully, you each take a side. Make sure to use swords as the enemy seems to have a majority of axe users. Zant, Lon'qu, you..." Robin was interrupted when another Plegian force, separate to the main host to the west, was spotted coming at us from the south. "Dammit, alright change of plans. Zant, Lon'qu, Sumia. You three need to stop that southern force at all costs. If we get pinned in the corridors, we're dead."

"Got it." I answered. "Alright you two, we have our orders, let's move." With that, Lon'qu, Sumia, and I broke formation and headed out to intercept the force coming at the flank.

* * *

"You have a plan?" Lon'qu asked as we saw the force we were up against. Bad enough to the other two, to the one who had played this mission as a video game, something was very wrong with this situation. There wasn't supposed to be this many myrmidons in the ranks. Hell, there were hardly any barbarians in there at all. The amount of dark mages were also a bit higher than I was expecting. Okay, deep breaths. As Miriel would say, formulate a plan. The three of us were behind cover at the moment and hadn't been spotted, we had time.

"Sumia, Pegasus knights train to better resist magic spells, correct?" I asked.

"We do, but it won't help against wind magic." she replied.

"We won't have to worry about that. We're up against dark mages."

"I don't know about dark magic. There's no practitioners in Ylisse to assist us."

"Well, when this is all over, why don't you go and get help from the Shepherd's current practitioner." Sumia was confused for a moment, then her eyes widened.

"Oh, you mean Megan. I suppose she could help with that." We were getting off track, and Lon'qu was about to voice it.

"Back to the task at hand. Sumia, you pick off the dark mages. Lon'qu, you and I will take on the ground forces. Stay close so one can assist should the other require it."

"Um, Zant. Not to be rude, but do you think you'll be able to fight?" asked Sumia, which confused me.

"And what makes you say that?" I inquired, giving voice to my confusion.

"Wyrmslayers." Lon'qu replied.

"...I beg your pardon?" I asked incredulously.

"Zant, almost every swordsman in that regiment has a wyrmslayer." answered Sumia. Are you fucking serious!? Making sure those two were not pulling my leg, I took another look at the incoming regiment, and my stomach dropped upon seeing that Sumia was correct. Practically every sword wielder was armed with a wyrmslayer. However, looking harder, I noticed something very important that the other two had not.

"Well fuck, you're right." I said. "But I wouldn't worry too much. They may have wyrmslayers, but those guys aren't veterans or professionals. I'll be fine."

"They'll carve through your defenses." Lon'qu remarked.

"Oh, so you both think that just because they all have wyrmslayers, I'm as good as dead, huh? What do you think we're gonna do, stand there while taking turns whacking the life out of each other? Real life doesn't work that way." And thank god it didn't. If we had to fight the way the games did it, then I'd be worried for my life. Fortunately, real combat was much more fluid and dynamic than a bunch of animations responding to percentages. The enemy was getting closer; we would have to strike soon. "We don't have time to argue about this, we need to get in and cause damage now. I'll go first to stir them up, you two follow behind." Nodding, Lon'qu drew his blade, and Sumia mounted up. Waiting just a bit for the opposing force to draw closer, I sprung out at them, morphing into my dragon form. Immediately crashing into their ranks, I focused solely on causing as much damage as possible in a three second window. I flailed a few limbs, sprayed a blast of napalm, and then disengaged dragon form, the crumbling body causing more confusion and a decent smokescreen for Lon'qu and Sumia to approach undetected. Humanoid once again, I drew my blade, and began fighting. The first two went down easily due to all the confusion I caused, but that was it for freebies for me, as the remaining force kicked it into high gear. Wyrmslayers lashed out at me, and I had to be careful to deflect with my blade and not my scales. Soon though, Lon'qu and Sumia joined the fray. by now, the smoke was clearing and I was able to see how good a job I had done in my initial attack. The force was in total disarray, and Lon'qu and I were making mincemeat out of the other swordsmen.

A wyrmslayer swung out for me, and I casually ducked under the blade, thrusting my own through my opponent's gut. Lon'qu got the upper hand in a deadlock,and beheaded a man with his killing edge. Draconic talons raked through a man's face and eyes, and silenced the agonized screams as they punched through their victim's throat. The dark mages in the group had initially fired at us, but now Sumia had them well occupied. Any time a dark mage shifted his attention away from her, she'd dive in and skewer him. My initial assessment of this force had been correct. The soldiers here were ill trained, just a little bit above being called outright cannon fodder. Their forms were crude and sloppy, they got in each other's way, and they had no desire to support nearby comrades. Gangrel must have just rounded up as much able bodies as he could and gave them all a shiny cool sword to buy their compliance. Against someone who was brutally trained for a month by Ferox's best, these guys went down hard and fast. Had this been a legion of professionals, I'd be having a way rougher time of things. All throughout the bloodbath, I was privy to the horrors of warfare; dismembered limbs, slashed open stomachs, beheaded corpses, and the screams of the slowly dying. And through it all I felt no revulsion, no horror, no sympathy, and no mercy. My sword slashed through a dying man's throat, not to end his life to free him from the pain, but simply because I found his screams annoying. That was the level of care I had for the carnage around me.

Unfortunately, as good as I was, even I was having difficulties with these numbers. A few lucky brats had managed to score some wounds on me, and I was slowing down from exhaustion. Luck gave me a kick to the nuts when my sword got stuck in a foe's body, and with more soldiers bearing down on me, I had no time to yank it out. Acting on the first thought that came to mind, just as the guy went for an overhead slash, I clapped the blade between both my hands, much to both our surprise. Yanking the blade forward in hopes of disarming him, I failed to make my opponent release his sword, but I did throw him off balance. Before he could recover, I morphed a hand into claws and speared them through his throat, getting blood everywhere. Shoving the body away, I had to catch a few more swords before I managed to get enough time to yank my steel blade out of the body it was stuck in. After assisting Lon'qu out of a dogpile, the remaining forces pulled back towards the small fort by the path leading up to the second level of the cliffs. The three of us elected not to pursue the fleeing soldiers, and instead opted to take a few minutes to catch our breath. Way in the deepest corners of my mind, the human parts of me screamed for me to react, to feel revulsion and shock, declaring me a monster for feeling nothing for the level of brutality I was committing. Yet the rest of my mind completely ignored it all, drowning my humanity in silence.

Once the three of us had recovered, we headed further south to the fortified areas. This was where things got bad. The remaining ground forces immediately came back for us, and while they weren't too much trouble, they had only been a delaying tactic. Out of the supposedly empty fort came an entire squadron of wyvern riders, and by the looks of things, these guys weren't pushovers. They flew in a tight, disciplined formation, and their weapons were basic, but of good quality. Sumia would not survive against such forces on her own. Using Feroxi hand signals, I signalled to Lon'qu that I was leaving him to support Sumia, to which he acknowledged.

Immediately morphing into my draconic form, I got into the air with Sumia just as the squadron reached us. Soon, I realized I had a bit of a problem. My size meant I was nowhere near agile enough to completely match these guys in the air, and they soon realized it too. In minutes, I was getting blind-sided by attacks that I just couldn't keep up with. I couldn't use my fire, as I could hit Sumia or Lon'qu, and I was too slow to catch them even at my fastest. Sumia was putting up a heroic effort of fighting these guys off of me, but it was mostly hit and run as she had to break off and back out when they turned their attention to her. One other thing that was going poorly for me was that while in the air, I had the more soft places of my body exposed. You see, a manakete's hide and scales grew in hardness the more damage it took. What was never mentioned was that this effect was not uniform, meaning that only the places that received damage hardened. In short, I had places on my body that silver weapons wouldn't scratch, but also places that couldn't stand up to steel.

The only good thing about this was that the wyvern riders considered me the bigger priority, and were thus leaving Sumia mostly alone for now. After a minute of enduring attacks, I got some luck when an opponent tried going for my eyes. Lashing out with speed he was not prepared for, I snatched the rider's mount by the neck, and with one deft shake of my head, snapped the wyvern's neck and flung the rider out of his seat. I then tossed the dead wyvern at another incoming rider, knocking him out of the sky and bringing the opponents down to seven. Sumia then managed to take down a rider of her own, leaving six left. That was it for our stroke of luck, and once again our foes swarmed us like flies. Wretched, annoying flies! They thought themselves so much better, faster, stronger. _Did they not know who they were dealing with? Did they think some meager advantages were enough to make them superior to a dragon? I would show them the error of their ways. Diving down to the cliffs, I touched down onto solid ground. Inhaling a great breath, I forced the pressure within me to build to tremendous levels, and without a moment's delay, I unleashed it all._

It was as if someone had taken the siege horn of Helm's Deep, hooked it up to a heavy metal live concert audio system, and sounded it at maximum volume. The sound instantly snapped me out of the slight daze I had been in earlier, allowing me to see what the blast of sound was doing. Every single aerial unit was literally knocked out of the air as the sheer concussive blast of sound screwed up their wingbeats. Unfortunately, this included Sumia as well, as her Pegasus absolutely freaked from the noise, bucking her off and racing back in the direction of Ylisstol. Reaching out, I managed to catch the shrieking girl in both of my claws, flaring out my wings to keep me balanced.

 **"You alright, Sumia?"** I asked as I opened my claws from around her.

"Y-yeah." she answered shakily, the remnants of the pure terror afflicting her earlier assaulting my nostrils. "Th-thank you for the quick catch."

 **"And I profusely apologize for putting you in that situation in the first place."** I began picking my way down to the ground , my draconic body not the most graceful thing on two legs.

"What was that?" Sumia asked, having mostly recovered her wits. The million dollar question indeed.

 **"Something I haven't used in a long time."** I answered, hoping to evade the question. Turns out that it didn't matter, because a flux spell detonated underneath me, sending us both tumbling down the cliff. I immediately reverted back to humanoid form, as I didn't want to potentially crush Sumia under the weight of my dragon body. The smokescreen the crumbling draconic body created would also spare us from more dark magic. Rolling and bouncing through the smoke, I had just enough time to see the boulder in front of me before my face smashed right into it with a loud crack. A second passed by, and I realized I had stopped moving, and I was in no pain. Moving my head away from the point of impact, I was startled to see that the boulder had a huge crack going through it. A quick check on my horns showed no damage to them, and I thanked my dragon physiology once again for keeping me alive. Dashing my head against the rocks was not a productive way of following the stay alive plan.

"Sumia?" I called out, and got worried when I received no response.

"Sumia!" I called again, louder this time, and again I got no response. Hauling myself up to survey my surroundings, I saw Sumia unconscious a ways away. Just as I began making my way over, a flux spell exploded beside me, the lashing tendrils of darkness forcing me to duck in cover. Damn dark mages were still making life hell it seemed. I knew I'd be in serious trouble if I went for Sumia on my own, so I headed the other way towards Lon'qu's location. More flux spells detonated around me, like wisps of violet mist, and I had to drop flat more than once to avoid some of the closer calls. Eventually, I made it to Lon'qu, who was hidden behind a large boulder.

"Lon'qu!" I called out, getting his attention. I dove into cover beside him just as a flux spell detonated where I had previously been. "Lon'qu, Sumia is down and unconscious. I need help getting her out of danger." Immediately, Lon'qu tensed, and the smell of fear began to emanate about him.

"Impossible. The mages will kill us before we even get to her." he replied.

"So, we're just going to leave her there for Plegia to capture?"

"If we attempt to save her we'll all be dead or captured."

"So you'd throw a comrade to the wolves if it meant saving your own hide?"

"No, but throwing my life away pointlessly is something I refuse to do." I knew Lon'qu was in the right, pragmatically speaking, but this was his fear doing the thinking, and I refused to follow logic driven solely through fear.

"Fine then. If your fear keeps you rooted to the ground, then I'll just have to get her myself." and before he could stop me, I leaped from cover and started charging back to Sumia's location. Of course, the dark mages in the fort were once again firing flux spells, and this time they were doing a mighty fine job keeping me in place behind cover. If I wanted to get Sumia, I would need to take some hits, but that was what worried me. I knew physical strikes were flat out laughable in effectiveness against me, but I hadn't tested nor considered my resistance to magic. Furthermore, my resistances were stronger in my dragon form, but that would make me an easy target. Deciding not to risk taking too much damage, I pressed on in my mortal form, hugging what cover I could like a bedmate until I finally made it to Sumia. Said girl was, thankfully, conscious, and when I reached her, her eyes widened.

"Zant?" she questioned, as if she hadn't expected me to come for her.

"Hold on, girl, we're getting you out of here." I responded, biting back the urge to wisecrack. I did not make jokes at inopportune times, that was Megan's job.

"Zant, you should have left me behind. Trying to save me will only get us both killed."

"Yeah, and if I left you to die, the object of your affections would be mounting my head in his trophy room." And now she was redder than a tomato.

"I, I have no idea what you're talking about." she stammered.

"Right, of course you don't. Now, let's get you out of here." A bridal style hold wouldn't be wise in this terrain, as I needed to see where I placed my steps on this treacherous ground. Instead, I hoisted her over my shoulder in a fireman carry, and rushed back the way I came. Of course, things went sour, and I was struck in the leg by a flux spell, and it felt like a simultaneous second degree burn and frostbite had manifested on impact, an excruciating duality of blistering heat and sheer cold. The spell caused me to stumble and trip, sending both Sumia and I sprawling, and it was a scramble for cover as spells once again began to pepper us. To press on was folly, as there was too much spellfire, but on the same vein, the amount of dark spells being flung at us was destroying the boulder we were huddling behind. Weighing my options, I had only one chance to get us both out of range, but it would leave me taking the brunt of the damage. Taking a quick peek over our cover, I could see that we hadn't gotten far from the fort, which was both good and bad for my plan. One more run through in my head, and I steeled my nerves.

"Sumia, you get back to Lon'qu. I'll deal with these mages once and for all." I said

"Zant, they'll kill you before you could get close enough." she replied, her tone saturated with worry.

"Sumia, just do as I say. I have a plan, but I can't implement it with you here." I was pretty sure the fire surrounding me during my transformation could burn others if they were close enough. Knowing that I had a plan soothed her somewhat, and soon she was running back to Lon'qu's location. Of course, enemy spells rained down on her as she fled, but then I transformed into my dragon form, and the dark mages ignored her entirely for me. As I drew breath to unleash a torrent of napalm, I was bombarded with rapid fire flux spells, shrouding me in an amaranthine haze of excruciating pain. The agony almost made me falter, but I pushed through and unleashed my fire on the ramparts of the fort. I kept the stream going for as long as I could, making the napalm as thin and oily as I could so that it would splash and spray everywhere on the fort. As soon as I ended the stream, I collapsed to the ground, reverting to humanoid once again. Every inch of my body was in agony, my vision was blurry, and my breathing was ragged, but I was alive, and the barrages of spells that had harassed my location had now ceased entirely. Contentedly, I stayed in my prone position on the ground to recover my strength and banish some of the exhaustion pressing down on me, but not minutes later, Sumia and Lon'qu both reached my spot.

"Is he still alive?" asked Lon'qu, and though his voice sounded dispassionate, I could smell the man's worry. How sweet of him to care so. I let out a groan conveying all my pain and exhaustion I was currently feeling in reply, shifting a bit as well in case the vocalisation didn't deliver the message.

"Oh gods, Zant!" And there was Sumia, worried as ever. "Don't worry, we'll get you to the healers."

"How bad is it?" I groaned out.

"Could be worse." answered Lon'qu. "You still have all your limbs intact, and aside from what looks like some bad bruises, you don't appear to have any wounds on you." So as he said, then; could have been worse. The two then began to help me up off the ground, and I muttered a thanks as I was brought back onto my feet.

"Did I get the mages?" I asked.

"If you didn't, then they're fireproof." replied Lon'qu, gesturing to the fort. Looking at the damage I caused, I was impressed. the entire front, as well as the ramparts, of the fort were covered in fire. Thick black smoke billowed from the conflagration the stone structure had become, and if any dark mages were still in there, they'd be forced to get out to escape the smoke or suffocate within it. With that, the three of us made our way back to the main force, taking the now undefended pass up to the second level. once we reached the top of the natural ramp did a new problem make itself known. Apparently, Gangrel had more forces coming onto this map than the games portrayed, as a veritable army was marching towards us. This one however, was chock full of promoted units. Generals, sorcerers, berserkers, the Shepherds had no hope of taking a force like that on, and the other two knew it as well. The army was beginning to charge at us, and we didn't have the time or distance to flee from it, nor could we fight it. With feverish panic, I looked around for anything that could be done to stop this host, and I had a sudden idea. It was risky, it was dangerous, but it would stop that army from entering the battlefield before the Shepherds got off of it. I exploded into a whirl of flame once more, transforming yet again, and I could feel the toll it was taking on me. Shaking it off, I fired a stream of napalm, not at the approaching army, but at the cliff wall rising beside them. Like at the tournament in Ferox, I concentrated on making my napalm as thick as I could, the consistency becoming akin to boiling tar. It began to swell into a glowing bubble where it impacted the cliff face, and with an earth shuddering bang, it detonated with all the force of a ballistic missile. Instantly the cliff face began to crumble, turning into a tremendous rockslide that crushed the front line of soldiers and began piling up on the pathway, effectively cutting the army completely off. Of course, just my luck that things immediately backfired, as the cliff face began to break apart above the three of us as well.

 **"Run!"** I shouted, and didn't need to say it twice. We booked it for the Shepherd's location as fast as we could, the rockslide right behind us. Unfortunately for me, I was slower than the other two in my dragon form, and a large rock smashed into my leg, bringing me down. I had just enough time to hear Sumia scream, before rocks and darkness swallowed everything.

* * *

The sound of chatter, joyful chatter, was what pulled my mind back into consciousness, and the fact that I felt no pain alerted it into a semblance of wakefulness. Some quick twitches of my limbs revealed that yes, I could still feel pain, and no, I was not paralyzed. Cracking open an eye, I instantly shut it again, but the brief image of open sky told me I was not buried under rocks. I could also tell that I was not bound in any way, so with all this in mind I was pretty sure I wasn't captured. Opening my eyes again, I was greeted to a tear stained smile from Megan, and a quick look about confirmed that neither of us were captured by the enemy.

"So I take it we won?" I asked with a grin, but that went dead as soon as I sensed Megan's emotional state. Something had gone very wrong.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh my god, I am so, so sorry for this taking so long. The entirety of summer had been way to busy a time for me, October being where it began to ease up. Only recently have I gotten the free time necessary to continue writing, and I've jumped right back in. Again, sorry this took so long, but hopefully the next chapter won't have to wait nearly as much. Until then, R &R please.**


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